What causes an addictive brain? / Addictions, The Reward System & Neuroscience

* dedicated to our dearest Li, who is an expert professional on the treatment of addictions 🙂

I prepared this summary to introduce you to the topic:

Addiction, or substance use disorder, is a primary and chronic disease of the brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. This is characterized by compulsive drug craving, seeking and use that persist even in the face of extremely negative consequences.

The term reward system describes a group of structures that are activated by rewarding or reinforcing stimuli, such as addictive drugs or alcohol. When the brain is exposed to a rewarding stimulus, it reacts by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Instead of a simple, pleasurable surge of dopamine, many drugs of abuse—such as opioids, cocaine, or nicotine—cause dopamine to flood the reward pathway, 10 times more than a natural reward. The brain remembers this surge and associates it with the addictive substance.

When rewarding stimuli are experienced, the dopaminergic mesolimbic system is activated which causes the release of dopamine to the targeted nuclei (Small et al. 2003; Cameron et al. 2014). The ventral striatum, including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), is a major substrate involved in reward.

Dopamine (DA) is the neurotransmitter that has been classically associated with the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse and may have a key role in triggering the neurobiological changes associated with addiction.

Research has shown that the drugs most commonly abused by humans (including opiates, alcohol, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine) create a neurochemical reaction that significantly increases the amount of dopamine that is released by neurons in the brain’s reward centre.

Midbrain dopamine neurons are well known for their strong responses to rewards and their critical role in positive motivation. It has become increasingly clear, however, that dopamine neurons also transmit signals related to salient but non-rewarding experiences such as aversive and alerting events.

Seeking for more info & help? Visit https://www.uk-rehab.com/addiction/psychology/reward-system/

23 May 2022

For more information on addiction services at #YaleMedicine, visit: https://www.yalemedicine.org/departme…. Written and produced by Yale Neuroscience PhD student Clara Liao.

Addiction is now understood to be a brain disease. Whether it’s alcohol, prescription pain pills, nicotine, gambling, or something else, overcoming an addiction isn’t as simple as just stopping or exercising greater control over impulses. That’s because addiction develops when the pleasure circuits in the brain get overwhelmed, in a way that can become chronic and sometimes even permanent. This is what’s at play when you hear about reward “systems” or “pathways” and the role of dopamine when it comes to addiction.

But what does any of that really mean?

One of the most primitive parts of the brain, the reward system, developed as a way to reinforce behaviours we need to survive—such as eating. When we eat foods, the reward pathways activate a chemical called dopamine, which, in turn, releases a jolt of satisfaction. This encourages you to eat again in the future. When a person develops an addiction to a substance, it’s because the brain has started to change. This happens because addictive substances trigger an outsized response when they reach the brain. Instead of a simple, pleasurable surge of dopamine, many drugs of abuse—such as opioids, cocaine, or nicotine—cause dopamine to flood the reward pathway, 10 times more than a natural reward.

The brain remembers this surge and associates it with the addictive substance. However, with chronic use of the substance, over time the brain’s circuits adapt and become less sensitive to dopamine. Achieving that pleasurable sensation becomes increasingly important, but at the same time, you build tolerance and need more and more of that substance to generate the level of high you crave.

Addiction can also cause problems with focus, memory, and learning, not to mention decision-making and judgement. Seeking drugs, therefore, is driven by habit—and not conscious, rational decisions. Unfortunately, the belief that people with addictions are simply making bad choices pervades. Furthermore, the use of stigmatizing language, such as “junkie” and “addict” and getting “clean,” often creates barriers when it comes to accessing treatment. There’s also stigma that surrounds treatment methods, creating additional challenges.

Though treatment modalities differ based on an individual’s history and the particular addiction he or she has developed, medications can make all the difference. “A lot of people think that the goal of treatment for opioid use disorder, for example, is not taking any medication at all,” says David A. Fiellin, MD, a Yale Medicine primary care and addiction medicine specialist.

“Research shows that medication-based treatments are the most effective treatment. Opioid use disorder is a medical condition just like depression, diabetes or hypertension, and as with those conditions, it is most effectively treated with a combination of medication and counselling.”

Seeking for more info & help? Visit https://www.uk-rehab.com/addiction/psychology/reward-system/

Are neurotransmitters the cause for depression? / Psychiatry & Neuro-biology

26 May 2021

For more information on mental health or #YaleMedicine, visit: https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditio….

For many people, depression turns out to be one of the most disabling illnesses that we have in society. Despite the treatments that we have available, many people are not responding that well. It’s a disorder that can be very disabling in society. It’s also a disorder that has medical consequences. By understand the neurobiology of depression we hope to be able more to find the right treatment for the patient suffering from this disease.

The current standard of care for the treatment of depression is based on what we call the monoamine deficiency hypothesis. Essentially, presuming that one of three neurotransmitters in the brain is deficient or underactive. But the reality is, there are more than 100 neurotransmitters in the brain. And billions of connections between neurons. So we know that that’s a limited hypothesis.

Neurotransmitters can be thought of as the chemical messengers within the brain, it’s what helps one cell in the brain communicate with another, to pass that message along from one brain region to another. For decades, we thought that the primary pathology, the primary cause of depression was some abnormality in these neurotransmitters, specifically serotonin or norepinephrine. However, norepinephrine and serotonin did not seem to be able to account for this cause, or to cause the symptoms of depression in people who had major depression. Instead, the chemical messengers between the nerve cells in the higher centres of the brain, which include glutamate and GABA, were possibilities as alternative causes for the symptoms of depression.

When you’re exposed to severe and chronic stress like people experience when they have depression, you lose some of the connections between the nerve cells. The communication in these circuits becomes inefficient and noisy, we think that the loss of these synaptic connections contributes to the biology of depression.

There are clear differences between a healthy brain and a depressed brain. And the exciting thing is, when you treat that depression effectively, the brain goes back to looking like a healthy brain, both at the cellular level and at a global scale. It’s critical to understand the neurobiology of depression and how the brain plays a role in that for two main reasons. One, it helps us understand how the disease develops and progresses, and we can start to target treatments based on that.

We are in a new era of psychiatry. This is a paradigm shift, away from a model of monoaminergic deficiency to a fuller understanding of the brain as a complex neurochemical organ. All of the research is driven by the imperative to alleviate human suffering. Depression is one of the most substantial contributors to human suffering. The opportunity to make even a tiny dent in that is an incredible opportunity.

latest news on epigenetics and clock reprogramming | the methylation clock

May 5, 2022

consequences of getting infected with covid-19 | yale university, health & science

15 Apr 2022

When COVID-19 first emerged, many researchers were focused on its impact on the lungs. But others, including Avindra Nath, Clinical Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, suspected COVID could also have a profound impact on the brain.

Brain autopsy data from those who have died of COVID-19 have confirmed these early suspicions, revealing damaged blood vessels and inflammatory cells. Less is known about the direct impact on the brains of people with persisting symptoms weeks after an initial infection, a condition known as Long COVID. What at first seemed like a laundry list of neurological symptoms has now been focused into major categories, says Serena Spudich, a neurologist at Yale University. Watch to learn how researchers and doctors have been teasing apart how COVID impacts the brain, and testing treatments to alleviate symptoms.

Renowned Academics Speaking About god | to believe you do not need evidence but science has to present proof for everything it proposes

has god created man?

or has man created god ?

I do not claim that this video demonstrates there is no God. It is not an argument against God in itself, so there is no argument from popularity or authority.

I claim that the more scientifically and philosophically literate a person, the less likely they are to believe in a deity.

If you think the concept of a God has nothing to do with the universe, logic, metaphysics, epistemology, human beings, etc., then this video is not for you.

If you think it does have something to do with such subjects, then you might want to consider why the best experts on those subjects usually fail to see reason to believe in a deity.

Speakers in order of appearance:

1. Lawrence Krauss, World-Renowned Physicist 2. Robert Coleman Richardson, Nobel Laureate in Physics 3. Richard Feynman, World-Renowned Physicist, Nobel Laureate in Physics 4. Simon Blackburn, Cambridge Professor of Philosophy 5. Colin Blakemore, World-Renowned Oxford Professor of Neuroscience 6. Steven Pinker, World-Renowned Harvard Professor of Psychology 7. Alan Guth, World-Renowned MIT Professor of Physics 8. Noam Chomsky, World-Renowned MIT Professor of Linguistics 9. Nicolaas Bloembergen, Nobel Laureate in Physics 10. Peter Atkins, World-Renowned Oxford Professor of Chemistry 11. Oliver Sacks, World-Renowned Neurologist, Columbia University 12. Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal 13. Sir John Gurdon, Pioneering Developmental Biologist, Cambridge 14. Sir Bertrand Russell, World-Renowned Philosopher, Nobel Laureate 15. Stephen Hawking, World-Renowned Cambridge Theoretical Physicist 16. Riccardo Giacconi, Nobel Laureate in Physics 17. Ned Block, NYU Professor of Philosophy 18. Gerard ‘t Hooft, Nobel Laureate in Physics 19. Marcus du Sautoy, Oxford Professor of Mathematics 20. James Watson, Co-discoverer of DNA, Nobel Laureate 21. Colin McGinn, Professor of Philosophy, Miami University 22. Sir Patrick Bateson, Cambridge Professor of Ethology 23. Sir David Attenborough, World-Renowned Broadcaster and Naturalist 24. Martinus Veltman, Nobel Laureate in Physics 25. Pascal Boyer, Professor of Anthropology 26. Partha Dasgupta, Cambridge Professor of Economics 27. AC Grayling, Birkbeck Professor of Philosophy 28. Ivar Giaever, Nobel Laureate in Physics 29. John Searle, Berkeley Professor of Philosophy 30. Brian Cox, Particle Physicist (Large Hadron Collider, CERN) 31. Herbert Kroemer, Nobel Laureate in Physics 32. Rebecca Goldstein, Professor of Philosophy 33. Michael Tooley, Professor of Philosophy, Colorado 34. Sir Harold Kroto, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 35. Leonard Susskind, Stanford Professor of Theoretical Physics 36. Quentin Skinner, Professor of History (Cambridge) 37. Theodor W. Hänsch, Nobel Laureate in Physics 38. Mark Balaguer, CSU Professor of Philosophy 39. Richard Ernst, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 40. Alan Macfarlane, Cambridge Professor of Anthropology 41. Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson, Princeton Research Scientist 42. Douglas Osheroff, Nobel Laureate in Physics 43. Hubert Dreyfus, Berkeley Professor of Philosophy 44. Lord Colin Renfrew, World-Renowned Archaeologist, Cambridge 45. Carl Sagan, World-Renowned Astronomer 46. Peter Singer, World-Renowned Bioethicist, Princeton 47. Rudolph Marcus, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 48. Robert Foley, Cambridge Professor of Human Evolution 49. Daniel Dennett, Tufts Professor of Philosophy 50. Steven Weinberg, Nobel Laureate in Physics

FEATURED MUSIC: Mozart – Requiem Mass In D Minor K 626 – 1. Introitus 00:03 Massive Attack – Two Rocks And A Cup Of Water 02:28, 19:14 Max Richter – Embers 05:13 Ludovico Einaudi – Andare 09:27, 24:30, 26:31 Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole Bianche 13:13 Max Richter – Vladimir’s Blues 29:21 Ludovico Einaudi – Eni 30 Percento (The Earth Prelude) 33:16

CLIP SOURCES: The vast majority of the clips have been taken from the following sources: Professor Alan Macfarlane: http://www.alanmacfarlane.com Closer To Truth (Dr Robert Lawrence Kuhn): http://www.closertotruth.com The Science Network (Roger Bingham): http://thesciencenetwork.org The Vega Science Trust (Sir Harold Kroto): http://vega.org.uk

Speakers in order of appearance:

51. Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate in Physics, MIT 52. VS Ramachandran, World-Renowned Neuroscientist, UC San Diego 53. Bruce C. Murray, Caltech Professor Emeritus of Planetary Science 54. Sir Raymond Firth, World-Renowned Anthropologist, LSE 55. Alva Noë, Berkeley Professor of Philosophy 56. Alan Dundes, World Expert in Folklore, Berkeley 57. Massimo Pigliucci, Professor of Philosophy, CUNY 58. Bede Rundle, Oxford Professor of Philosophy 59. Sir Richard Friend, Cambridge Professor of Physics 60. George Lakoff, Berkeley Professor of Linguistics 61. Sir John Sulston, Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine 62. Shelley Kagan, Yale Professor of Philosophy 63. Roy J. Glauber, Nobel Laureate in Physics 64. Lewis Wolpert, Emeritus Professor of Biology, UCL 65. Mahzarin Banaji, Harvard Professor of Social Ethics 66. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Professor of Practical Ethics, Duke University 67. Richard Dawkins, Oxford Evolutionary Biologist 68. Bruce Hood, Professor of Experimental Psychology, Bristol 69. Marvin Minsky, Artificial Intelligence Research Pioneer, MIT 70. Herman Philipse, Professor of Philosophy, Utrecht University 71. Michio Kaku, CUNY Professor of Theoretical Physics 72. Dame Caroline Humphrey, Cambridge Professor of Anthropology 73. Max Tegmark, World-Renowned Cosmologist, MIT 74. David Parkin, Oxford Professor of Anthropology 75. Robert Price, Professor of Theology and Biblical Criticism 76. Jonathan Haidt, Professor of Psychology, Virginia 77. Max Perutz, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 78. Rodolfo Llinas, Professor of Neuroscience, New York 79. Dan McKenzie, World-Renowned Geophysicist, Cambridge 80. Patricia Churchland, Professor of Philosophy, UC San Diego 81. Sean Carroll, Caltech Theoretical Cosmologist 82. Alexander Vilenkin, World-Renowned Theoretical Physicist 83. PZ Myers, Professor of Biology, Minnesota 84. Haroon Ahmed, Prominent Cambridge Scientist (Microelectronics) 85. David Sloan Wilson, Professor of Biology and Anthropology, SUNY 86. Bart Ehrman, Professor of Religious Studies, UNC 87. Seth Lloyd, Pioneer of Quantum Computing, MIT 88. Dan Brown, Fellow in Organic Chemistry, Cambridge 89. Victor Stenger, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Hawaii 90. Simon Schaffer, Cambridge Professor of the History of Science 91. Saul Perlmutter World-Renowned Astrophysicist, Berkeley 92. Lee Silver, Princeton Professor of Molecular Biology 93. Barry Supple, Emeritus Professor of Economic History, Cambridge 94. Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Professor of Law 95. John Raymond Smythies, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatric Research 96. Chris Hann, Max Planck Institute For Social Anthropology 97. David Gross, Nobel Laureate in Physics 98. Ronald de Sousa, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Toronto 99. Robert Hinde, Emeritus Professor of Zoology, Cambridge 100. Carolyn Porco, NASA Planetary Scientist

FEATURED MUSIC: J.S. Bach – St. Matthew Passion: Kommt, ihr Tochter, helft mir klagen 00:00 John Cale – The Ritual (American Psycho OST) 05:57 Ludovico Einaudi – Passaggio 09:06 Ludovico Einaudi – Andare 12:46, 21:42, 29:55 Philip Glass – The Poet Acts 18:13 Max Richter – Embers 25:19 Ludovico Einaudi – Dietro Casa 38:01 CLIP SOURCES: The vast majority of the clips have been taken from the following sources: Professor Alan Macfarlane: http://www.alanmacfarlane.com Closer To Truth (Dr Robert Lawrence Kuhn): http://www.closertotruth.com The Science Network (Roger Bingham): http://thesciencenetwork.org The Vega Science Trust (Sir Harold Kroto): http://vega.org.uk

Speakers in order of appearance:

101. Sir Andrew Huxley, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 102. Steve Jones, UCL Professor of Genetics 103. Yujin Nagasawa, Professor of Philosophy, Birmingham University 104. Dame Alison Richard, Cambridge Professor of Anthropology 105. Peter Millican, Oxford Professor of Philosophy 106. Gareth Stedman Jones, Cambridge Professor of History 107. Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 108. Michael Mann, UCLA Professor of Sociology 109. Brian Greene, Professor of Physics, Columbia University 110. CJ van Rijsbergen, Cambridge Professor of Computer Science 111. Louise Antony, Professor of Philosophy, UMass 112. Leonard Mlodinow, Cal Tech Professor of Physics 113. Lisa Jardine, UCL Professor of History 114. Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 115. Herbert Huppert, Cambridge Professor of Geophysics 116. Geoff Harcourt, Australian Academic Economist, Cambridge 117. Elizabeth Loftus, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, UC Irvine 118. Paul Rabinow, Berkeley Professor of Anthropology 119. Sir Brian Harrison, Oxford Professor of Modern History 120. Lisa Randall, Harvard Professor of Physics 121. Gabriel Horn, Cambridge Professor of Zoology 122. Jonathan Parry, Cambridge Professor of Anthropology 123. Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Laureate in Physics 124. Frank Drake, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, UCSC 125. Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography, UCLA 126. Sir John E. Walker, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 127. J.L. Schellenberg, Professor of Philosophy, MSVU 128. Horace Barlow, Visual Neuroscientist, Cambridge 129. Baroness Susan Greenfield, Oxford Professor of Neuroscience 130. Hermann Hauser, Science Entrepreneur (Cambridge) 131. Stephen Gudeman, Professor of Anthropology, Minnesota 132. Jim Al Khalili, Professor of Theoretical Physics, Surrey 133. Mark Elvin, Professor of Chinese History, ANU/Oxford 134. Stuart Kauffman, Professor of Biochemistry and Mathematics, UVM 135. Stefan Feuchtwang, Professor of Anthropology, LSE 136. Ken Edwards, Cambridge Professor of Genetics 137. Raymond Tallis, Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Manchester 138. Geoffrey Hawthorn, Cambridge Professor of Sociology and Political Theory 139. Sir Roger Penrose, Oxford Professor of Mathematics 140. John Dunn, Cambridge Professor of Political Theory 141. Nicholas Humphrey, Professor of Psychology, LSE 142. Craig Venter, Synthetic Life Pioneer 143. Paul Churchland, Professor of Philosophy, UC San Diego 144. Christian de Duve, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 145. Michael Bate, Cambridge Professor of Developmental Biology 146. Melvin Konner, Professor of Anthropology, Emory University 147. Stephen Jay Gould, Harvard Professor of Zoology and Geology 148. Arif Ahmed, Senior Lecturer Philosophy, Cambridge 149. Christof Koch, Caltech Professor of Cognitive and Behavioural Biology 150. Peter Higgs, Nobel Laureate in Physics

CLIP SOURCES: The vast majority of the clips have been taken from the following sources: Professor Alan Macfarlane: http://www.alanmacfarlane.com Closer To Truth (Dr Robert Lawrence Kuhn): http://www.closertotruth.com The Science Network (Roger Bingham): http://thesciencenetwork.org The Vega Science Trust (Sir Harold Kroto): http://vega.org.uk

Economy Predictions for next Recession | by Robert Shiller (Nobel Prize winner& Professor at Yale University) | economy & forecast

What Will Cause The Next Recession – Robert Shiller On Human Behavior

Nobel Prize winning economist Robert Shiller says that the long expansion in the economy, housing and stock markets, combined with continued low interest rates, could mean the U.S. is due for a recession.

However, he says that human behavior makes it very difficult to make such predictions. The Trump administration and extreme weather events haven’t affected markets…yet. Robert Shiller told CNBC that despite a strong housing market since 2012, homebuyers do not seem as excited.

Low unemployment is helping drive the market up. Shiller also says President Donald Trump and his family’s lifestyle might be contributing to people feeling like, they too, can live in extravagant homes.

However, the Yale University economist says, “There could be a change in sentiment toward housing which could bring prices down.” Shiller also addresses housing affordability as a global issue.

The Incas, masters of the clouds – Macchu Picchu the secret city

The Inca Masters of the Clouds 1 Foundations BBC Documentary 2015

The Inca Masters of the Clouds 1 Foundations BBC Documentary 2015
In the first of a two-part series, Dr Jago Cooper reassesses the achievements of the Inca Empire. He begins in Peru, where evidence is still being uncovered that challenges preconceptions about its origins and significance. Venturing from the coast to the clouds, he reveals how the Inca transformed one of the most challenging landscapes in the world to ward off the worst effects of the climate, and created sophisticated systems of communication. He shows how one of many independent societies became a commanding empire – not through force, but by using subtle methods of persuasion.

The Inca Masters of the Clouds 2 Foundations BBC Documentary 2015

The Inca Masters of the Clouds 2 Clash of Empires BBC Documentary 720p

Voynich Code, the world’s most mysterious manuscript. Using technology to decode it. Learn about it.

Voynich Code – The Worlds Most Mysterious Manuscript – The Secrets of Nature

It is the world’s most mysterious manuscript. A book, written by an unknown author, illustrated with pictures that are as bizarre as they are puzzling — and written in a language that even the best cryptographers have been unable to decode. No wonder that this script even has a part in Dan Brown’s latest bestseller “The Lost Symbol”.

10 Words in Mysterious Voynich Manuscript Decoded
By Megan Gannon, News Editor | February 20, 2014 

The Voynich manuscript’s unintelligible writings and strange illustrations have defied every attempt at understanding their meaning.

The Voynich manuscript’s unintelligible writings and strange illustrations have defied every attempt at understanding their meaning.
Credit: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University

A researcher claims he’s decoded 10 possible words in the famously unreadable Voynich manuscript, which has eluded interpretation for a century.

The book’s 250 vellum pages are filled with writings in an
unknown alphabet and elaborate drawings depicting a range of subjects from female nudes to medicinal herbs to Zodiac symbols. The medieval text was discovered by an antique book dealer in 1912, and it has been rather stingy in giving up its secrets ever since.

Now Stephen Bax, a professor of applied linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire in England, says he’s deciphered 14 characters of the script and can read a handful of items in the Voynich text, such as the words for coriander, hellebore and juniper next to drawings of the plants. He says he’s also picked out the word for Taurus written beside an illustration of the Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation Taurus. [Voynich Manuscript: Images of the Unreadable Medieval Book]

“I hit on the idea of identifying proper names in the text, following historic approaches which successfully deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs and other mystery scripts, and I then used those names to work out part of the script,” Bax said in a statement.

“The manuscript has a lot of illustrations of stars and plants,” Bax added. “I was able to identify some of these, with their names, by looking at mediaeval herbal manuscripts in Arabic and other languages, and I then made a start on a decoding, with some exciting results.”

The Voynich manuscipt now sits in a rare books library at Yale University. Carbon dating proved that it dates back to the 15th century, and researchers believe it was written in Central Europe. While some scholars have written it off as a Renaissance-era hoax full of nonsense text, others say the pattern of the letters and words suggest the book was written in a real language or at least an invented cipher. A recent statistical study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that “Voynichese” adheres to linguistic rules.

Bax notes that the manuscript is still a long way from being understood, and that he is coming forward with what he’s found thus far in the hopes that other linguists will work with him to crack the code. For now, he thinks the book is “probably a treatise on nature, perhaps in a Near Eastern or Asian language.”

*** A 600 YEAR OLD MYSTERY

Up until now the 15th century cryptic work has baffled scholars, cryptographers and codebreakers who have failed to read a single letter of the script or any word of the text.

Over time it has attained an infamous reputation, even featuring in the latest hit computer game Assassin’s Creed, as well as in the Indiana Jones novels, when Indiana decoded the Voynich and used it to find the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’.

However in reality no one has come close to revealing the Voynich’s true messages unitl now.

Many grand theories have been proposed. Some suggest it was the work of Leonardo da Vinci as a boy, or secret Cathars, or the lost tribe of Israel, or most recently Aztecs … some have even proclaimed it was done by aliens.

Has the Voynich manuscript been decoded? First words of mysterious 15th century text revealed

• The Voynich manuscript was discovered in an Italian monastery in 1912
• Due to its location, historians think the manuscript was written in Europe
• It is full of illustrations, diagrams and a mysterious text written left to right
• Cryptographers have been trying to decipher this text for decades
• First nine words have now been decoded
  

By MARK PRIGG    PUBLISHED: 23:00 GMT, 20 February 2014 

For decades, researchers have been trying in vain to decipher ancient texts written on the Voynich manuscript – and a British researcher claims he has cracked it.

The world-renowned 600 year old manuscript is full of illustrations of exotic plants, stars, and mysterious human figures, as well as many pages written in an unknown text.

Now Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire, say he has decoded words in it for the first time.

 Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Bedfordshire, say he has decoded words in it for the first time by identifying the plants

A 600 YEAR OLD MYSTERY

Up until now the 15th century cryptic work has baffled scholars, cryptographers and codebreakers who have failed to read a single letter of the script or any word of the text.

Over time it has attained an infamous reputation, even featuring in the latest hit computer game Assassin’s Creed, as well as in the Indiana Jones novels, when Indiana decoded the Voynich and used it to find the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’.

However in reality no one has come close to revealing the Voynich’s true messages unitl now.

Many grand theories have been proposed. Some suggest it was the work of Leonardo da Vinci as a boy, or secret Cathars, or the lost tribe of Israel, or most recently Aztecs … some have even proclaimed it was done by aliens.

Professor Bax is using linguistic analysis to work on the script letter by letter.

‘I hit on the idea of identifying proper names in the text, following historic approaches which successfully deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs and other mystery scripts, and I then used those names to work out part of the script,’ he said.

‘The manuscript has a lot of illustrations of stars and plants. I was able to identify some of these, with their names, by looking at medieval herbal manuscripts in Arabic and other languages, and I then made a start on a decoding, with some exciting results.’

Among the words he has identified is the term for Taurus, alongside a picture of seven stars which seem to be the Pleiades, and also the word KANTAIRON alongside a picture of the plant Centaury, a known mediaeval herb, as well as a number of other plants.

Altogether Bax says he has worked out: Juniper, Taurus, Coriander, Centaurea, Chiron, Hellebore Nigella Sativa, Kesar and Cotton.

Although Professor Bax admits his decoding is still only partial, it has generated a lot of excitement in the world of codebreaking and linguistics because it could prove a crucial breakthrough for an eventual full decipherment.

Due to its mysterious nature, the text and diagrams in the manuscript, pictured, have been studied by cryptographers around the world, yet no-one has succeeded in deciphering the reams of written passages. This has led to many people claim the book is hoax, or that the writing is nonsense

*** THE LOST LANGUAGE OF NAHUATL

Nahuatl originated in Central Mexico during the 7th century. It was the spoken predominantly by the Aztecs.

Following the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the 16th century, the alphabet was replaced with Latin.

Nahuatl became a literary language, used in poetry and passages, similar to the Voynich manuscript.

Varieties of Nahuatl are still spoken by approximately 1.5 million Nahua people in Central Mexico.

Recently a U.S. botanist studied illustrations of the plants throughout the 15th century book and pinpointed a number of them to the Central American region now known as Mexico.

Dr. Arthur Tucker claims at least 37 of the 303 plants would have grown in the region during the 15th and 16th century and believes the text is, therefore, written in the Aztec language of Nahuatl. 

The writing is so bizarre, sceptics have stated the book is a hoax or that the writing is nonsense.

The Voynich manuscript was discovered in an Italian monastery in 1912 by book dealer Wilfred Voynich. 

Carbon dating suggests the manuscript was created between approximately 1404 and 1438, during the Italian Renaissance.

The 240 pages of the book are made from a type of parchment produced using calf skin, known as vellum, and are decorated with illustrations, diagrams and a mysterious text written from left to right.

THE MYSTERY AND SCEPTICISM SURROUNDING THE VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT

The Voynich manuscript was discovered in an Italian monastery in 1912 by book dealer Wilfred Voynich. 

Carbon dating suggests the manuscript was created in the early 15th century, between approximately 1404 and 1438, during the Italian Renaissance. 

The 240 pages of the book are made from a type of parchment produced using calf skin, known as vellum.

Each page is decorated with illustrations, diagrams and a mysterious text written from left to right.

Due to its mysterious nature, the text has been studied by cryptographers around the world, yet no-one has succeeded in deciphering the reams of written passages. 

This has led to many people claim the book is hoax, or that the writing is nonsense.  

Due to the manuscript’s discovery in Italy, many researchers believe the book to have originated in Europe, however, the latest research from Dr. Tucker suggests it may have been written by the Aztecs in what is now modern-day Mexico.