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Author Archives: Anna

L.A. Law

Yes, it is true. I always watched all episodes in L.A. Law when I grew up. I liked the court scenes when the lawyers defended. Rhetoric is very good in several scenes. I suppose I liked L.A. Law because there is a sense of right and wrong. To act with moral and judgement. I liked the people and the different characters very much. I also liked little house on the prairie, but that I´ll tell you more about at another occasion.

Today I met my mentor Professor Jörgen Engel. He is still active in research within addiction. It was very nice to catch up because it was several years ago since we met. We talked a little about our ethnical backgrounds. I have some Indian background, and he is Jewish.  I told him that a woman, today living in Germany, has contacted my father. She has lived at the house where I grew up during second world war. She is jewish. I sent her a picture and she was very relieved to see the house. I imagine that it brings back a lot of memories.

Of course, Jörgen asked what I do in life. And my answer was that I work, write and exercise. Yes, that is my life in a nutshell. Right now, my book is going through a very sad chapter. So sad, that I must find a happy ending. I like happy endings, don´t you?

 

Bonne soirée,

Anna

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholm tisdag eftermiddag

Hej igen! Även fast det är en ledig dag så har jag en del att göra. Har ju inte skrivit en skönlitterär bok tidigare så det är nytt och kräver lite tankearbete, förstås.

Ser fram emot imorgon och jag har tänkt ganska mycket på en av mina favoritserier när jag växte upp. Lagens änglar. Jag missade aldrig ett avsnitt. Min absoluta favoritserie. Måste se om jag kan få tag på tidigare avsnitt. Nu ska jag skriva ett tag till och sedan träning.

En glimt av nostalgi – njut!

Anna

A day off

Hi there. I have a day off today and tomorrow. So that means that I have time for writing. Wonderful.

Yesterday it was 10 years since I defended my thesis. Today I am at home writing and tomorrow I will meet my mentor Professor Jörgen Engel. Of course, I think of previous colleagues I have worked with. However, my special thoughts goes to Gun Andersson and Kenn Johannessen whom I worked closely with during several years.

I spent many years to study the neurobiology behind the clinical observation that there is a strong association between smoking (nicotine-acetylcholine) and alcohol consumption. My opponent was, as you know, Professor Agneta Nordberg, and her research area is Alzheimers disease where acetylcholine is an important player.

Above is an illustration (Engel et al. 1992) showing the complexity of the reward profile of alcohol. The text is from my thesis.

Many neurotransmitters, including dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin et cetera are involved. Also individual factors such as genes, age, hormones and environment (eg stress) determines the outcome of alcohol reward.

It is well known that high alcohol consumption causes a lot of problems in health care and society in general. The last figure I saw was estimated to 130 billion Swedish crowns yearly. A huge amount that I don´t think politicians are aware of.

However, families and relatives carry the largest burden.

Sweden has an interesting history with regard to alcohol. There was something called “motbok” or Brattsystemet (Ivan Bratt) in the 20th century. If you compare the way of alcohol consumption in France and Sweden, you may conclude that; in Sweden  you get brain damages (binge drinking) whereas in France you get liver damages (every day drinking).

Since I have an interest in mountains, I had this quotation in my thesis:

“There were many, many fine reasons not to go, but attempting to climb Everest is an intrinsically irrational act – a triumph of desire over sensibility”

From Jon Krakauer´s “Into thin air”, 1997

This is an attempt to explain reward in words.

In my daily personal life I try to think of, and use “A triumph of desire over sensibility”. From a neurobiological perspective: desire is dopamine and sensibility is serotonin.

 

Je t’embrasse,

Anna

 

 

Vad vore mitt kök utan pepparkvarn?

Att laga mat är verkligen en passion. Det ger utrymme för fantasi. Avkoppling. Ikväll så blev det inte riktigt som jag hade planerat. Jag fick improvisera ett eget recept. Det blev fläskfilé med shii-take, oliver, paprika, baby-tomater och ananas. Med ingefära och råris.

Dagen har passerat ganska snabbt. Har skrivit lite i min bok. Har ju lovat att jag skall publicera nästa år. Men det tar tid att låta texten mogna fram. Olika karaktärer och liv som flätas ihop för att mynna ut i framtid. Dåtid möter framtid.

 

Je t’embrasse et vous souhaite une bonne semaine!

anna

 

I love food

Since I have followers from various countries, I combine Swedish and English. You might have noticed that I make a lot of food now. I love cooking if appreciated.

Food is for me, very much connected to love. I put a lot of love and energy into cooking. Love is something very difficult to explain and define. It shouldn´t be defined because then the magic disappears. However, you might have noticed; I like poems a lot. Especially Shakespeare.

This is the best poems of all.

 

Lots of love,

Anna

Tidlös söndag morgon

Det är ganska tidig morgon. Det är stilla. Gillar söndagar. En oplanerad dag. Ganska, åtminstone. Träning finns med på dagens aktiviteter.

Ägnade gårdagen ganska mycket till jul dekorationer. Jeg har nesten slutt på Kongerøkelse, trenger påfyll. Det är en särskild blandning som jag bara sett i Norge som man använder vid jul. Det doftar härligt. Det är mysigt med jul. Det behövs i mörka, kalla vinter Skandinavien. Det Skandinaviska klimatet är ju speciellt. Särskilt vid arktiska breddgrader.

Jag är uppvuxen i en politiskt verksam familj. Man ska påverka sitt samhälle (kommun) och ta ansvar. Är ju storasyster och det innebär också ett ansvar. Syster yster, kanske. Minns tiden då Adelsohn och Palme debatterade. Det är annorlunda idag. För lite fokus på de verkliga frågorna. Svenskt näringsliv som genererar arbetstillfällen.

Jag tillhör den generationen som är uppvuxen med “fem myror är fler än fyra elefanter”. Även “jorden är platt som en pannkaka”. Det påverkar nog mer än man tror vad man växer upp med för TV. Jag tyckte väldigt mycket om sagor när jag växte upp, särskilt bröderna Grimm, John Bauer och Elsa Beskow, för att nämna några.

 

Med all önskan om en fin söndag,

Anna