One of the best sources of news about future developments is Ray Hammond's monthly digest, Glimpses of the Future. This month's issue contains this piece (based on research originally published in Nature Neuroscience) which perhaps is relevant to my posting of yesterday about the England cricket team's fear of losing. But would Cdk5 count as performance enhancing?
A Cure For Fear
Are you afraid of fear itself? MIT biochemists have identified a molecular mechanism behind fear, and successfully cured it in mice.
Researchers from MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory hope that their work could lead to the first drug to treat the millions of adults who suffer each year from persistent, debilitating fears - including hundreds of soldiers returning from conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Inhibiting a kinase, an enzyme that change proteins, called Cdk5 facilitates the extinction of fear learned in a particular context, Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and colleagues showed.
And as a follow-up to another recent posting about Alice Herz Sommer here is an interview with her which appears on the Pan Macmillan website It's not quite in the league of Mel Brooks's and Carl Reiner's 2000 year old man but what is?
What do you remember best from your childhood?
The best memory of my childhood is playing music with my brother Paul. I was not yet ten years old and he was only a little older, and evening after evening my mother said, ‘Come on children, get playing.’ She would sit down next to the stove and we’d play anything that came to our mind – Schumann most frequently, I think. We had a huge repertoire.
What is your happiest memory?
The happiest moment of my life was the birth of my son on June 21, 1937.
What is your saddest memory?
The sudden, unexpected death of my only son, Raphael, in November 2001. Living with this painful memory is a daily challenge.
What is your favourite time of day?
I think it is the morning – the three hours that I play the piano.
Where is your favourite place in the world?
My favourite place in the world is in the middle of nature - anywhere.
What is the most important thing you have learned in your long life?
Don´t expect others to make you happy. Happiness does not come to you through others. You find happiness if you have a challenge in your life - and you fulfill it.
What advice would you give for a healthy old age?
Discipline! Especially if one reaches old age. You need to be disciplined. A routine to keep to. Time for your tasks. And time for physical exercise. Even it is just a daily walk.
Who is your favourite composer?
When I was young it was definitely Schumann. He is just adorable. Now I am older I love Beethoven and Schubert. Beethoven – because his music is deeply human and universal, and it represents endlessness. And Schubert, because his music makes you feel you are talking to God.
Do you still play the piano?
Every day! For almost 100 years. Despite my two crippled fingers I will keep playing until my last hour.
What advice would you give a young musician today?
You've got to work with phenomenal passion, and unbelievably hard! Otherwise it comes to nothing and you won’t succeed.