Woman, politics, religion and discrimination. What a mess, at least when summarizing today´s news. To get older has its advantages and also disadvantages. It was a few years ago since I met Anu so we are older, and maybe see life with different eyes. My stay at Sri Lanka was very much about religion. In Asia the stars are still very important. Different constellations may predict future and also relationships. If there is a match between a couple or not. Difficult to understand different cultures. East meets west. West meets east. Every month on Sri Lanka the full moon is celebrated and it is a holiday. So, astronomy is important.

Buddism is a very beautiful religion according to me from what I saw. I feel a bit upset and sad that there always must be fight between religions. Various religions should be respected, but, with regard to history, there have always been war due to religion. It is terrible that you have to be forced to believe in something that you don´t believe in.

I like fairytales a lot and there was a legend about “The sacred relic of the tooth of Buddha”. Something very sacred and unique. Will write more about it when I will write about Kandy. I was introduced by Anu to rituals and ceremonies. We went to a sacred place (Ruwanveliseya) in Anuradhapura where we offered flowers for Buddha as you can see on the picture above. Anuradhapura is a very old town and has been a very important political and religious center in Sri Lanka.

To recall is not always easy. But, of course, I started to remember a lot when I went to Sri Lanka. How I got to know Anu and also the work at the Behavioral Pharmacology Unit at the Department of Pharmacology at Gothenburg University.

When I studied at Uppsala University I had some extra courses within neurobiology, so that is how my interest for brain research emerged. I have always been very interested in a lot of subjects, but at that time, the brain was very fascinating. And still is. I was also very interested in teaching. I liked my work. I remember all ups and downs. Getting negative results and still have to keep motivation going. But, that is good for personal development. How to face challenges and how to deal with failures. Because that is life.

I learnt a lot about the brain. Alcohol addiction was my subject with special emphasize on the role of nicotinic receptor interactions with brain dopaminergic neurons. We had support from the NIDA (national institute on drug abuse) and that gave a more clinical focus even though we performed pre-clinical research.

Alcohol (ethanol) is a very small molecule with both hydrophilic and lipophilic characteristics. That is why it so easily pass the blood brain barrier and effects many different brain areas. Of course, the effect is dose-dependent. In small doses, ethanol is exerting CNS-stimulation leading to euphoria. And in larger doses, it causes anxiolysis, sedation and muscle relaxation. This is nicely presented above as “The brain symphony orchestra”.  It should be noted that the effect of ethanol is very complex, also depending on a lot of individual factors such as genes, gender, age, hormones and environment.

To develop alcoholism takes several years, and addiction should be considered as a disease. And it is, described in eg the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders). Today, several pharmacological tools are available for assisting treatment of ethanol addiction. However, and sadly, relapse is a part of the disease. It may be triggered by many cues where memory plays a huge role. Craving. The pre-frontal cortex is very important where the inhibitory circuits of the brain are located. How to control an impulse. In addition, this is a very interesting brain region from a philosophical point of view. How to control emotions and actions. For the interesting reader the author Antonio Damasio has written some books worth reading.

Above is also a section of the human brain. Several brain areas are presented and the most important (today) brain areas are pin pointed. I like to see more focus on the “feelings”, like Motivation/Drive, Memory/learning, Inhibitory control, and not the least Reward. Just because the brain areas interacts in a very complex way.

I am actually writing from my memory, but I got a book from Professor Jörgen Engel that he has published in collaboration with Lundbeck. I have taken the images from this book. I remember that we used these images a lot when lecturing.

My stay in Sri Lanka was very intense. I got a lot of new impressions. Sri Lanka is a very interesting country as an island with thousands of years of history. Many different cultures, religions and people on a very small area. Today living in peace. The nature is astonishing.

Religon plays a very important role in the day-to-day life of Sri Lankans. Although the island is predominantly Buddhist, other religions such as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are also present. I learnt a lot about Buddha, and it is said that the Buddha visited the island about 500 years BC. In brief, my encounter with Buddhism was very friendly and I also learnt that Sri Lanka has been under religious suppression by European countries, but other, surrounding countries have helped Sri Lanka to prevail culture and traditions. In Asia, countries collaborate and help each other, and have done so during centuries.

I will continue to write, so this was just an introduction to Sri Lankas fascinating history and culture. Sharing a photo from one of my first Buddhism encounters, introduced by my friend Anu.

I have spent quite a lot of time to write about my journey in Vietnam. Vietnam deserves a lot of attention with its fascinating history and culture. It was so nice to see Vietnam. From north to south. And also to rejoin with friends from previous work at Astra Zeneca. We used to do quite advanced studies. I remember that I learnt a lot about the importance of water to be able to do MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) studies. The oscillation of the water molecule in the body. T1 and T2. Nuclear physics including eg electrons and positrons. So, I was very happy to see Raimo and his family in HCMC in their beautiful house. Life.

Just before I went to Asia I saw my previous mentor Professor Jörgen Engel at a drug addiction meeting in Stockholm in December. I am so happy that I can be a member to follow what happens within drug addiction. I like to read the “Bulletin”. I will soon write about how ethanol (alcohol) orchestrate the brain reward symphony.

I was a little sad to leave Vietnam. But, then, it was good to know that I was going to meet my friend that I made at Gothenburg University. That is more than 15 years ago. She was in our research group led by Professor Jörgen Engel. I finished my thesis work and she decided to move to England to get a license for medical practice. MD. We stayed in contact and I visited her several times in England (White cliffs) and also in Scotland.  Anu is now licensed within Psychiatry and her husband Visahan, works as a Surgeon at a hospital in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.

I went from Saigon to Bangkok and changed planes for Colombo. I got to Colombo in the middle of the night, and my sweet friend met me at the airport to go to Anuradhapura. We went three hours by car through the jungle. We had to be careful, because sometimes elephants occur, like elks in Sweden. However, we had a skilled driver who knew all, crooked roads. At their house I got a few hours of sleep and woke up to a beautiful, peaceful and warm Sri Lanka.