Ray Peat

Ray Peat on Learned Helplessness

By OxidativeState · · 26 articles · 49 studies

Short answer: Ray Peat used learned helplessness as a physical model of what hopeless stress does to an organism. He wrote that the helpless state has a chemistry: high serotonin, low thyroid hormone and an overactive cholinergic system, and that all three can be reversed.

What Ray Peat wrote about learned helplessness

He describes the experiments popularized by Martin Seligman in 1967. An animal that could not escape a painful stress, even briefly, would later fail to escape when it easily could. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

He connected them to the enrichment experiments of the 1960s, in which animals raised in large, varied environments grew bigger, more capable brains. A 1976 study linked the two lines of research. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

During the development of helplessness, T3 falls. Removing the thyroid gland produces the escape deficit, and giving thyroid hormone before the stress prevents it. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

Serotonin is high in learned helplessness, and excess serotonin helps to create it. Source: Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy

He argued that deprivation and inescapable stress act by increasing the activity of the cholinergic system, so an anticholinergic drug should cure helplessness and a cholinergic drug should cause it. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

Progesterone and DHEA increase the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine, and he describes both as brain protective. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

His conclusion was about people. An environment that restricts choices holds back development, and one that offers complex involvement lets a person become more of what they are. Source: The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

What he suggested in practice

  • Support thyroid function.
  • A varied, engaging environment with real choices.
  • Light, sugar and the protective hormones, which lower the stress chemistry.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 26 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about learned helplessness?

That it is a biological state with high serotonin, low T3 and excess cholinergic activity, produced by inescapable stress, and that thyroid hormone and a richer environment prevent or reverse it.

How is learned helplessness related to thyroid, according to Ray Peat?

He cites experiments in which T3 falls as helplessness develops, removing the thyroid causes it, and thyroid supplementation prevents it.

49 studies Ray Peat cited on learned helplessness

  1. Cholinergic influences on escape deficits produced by uncontrollable stressPsychopharmacology (Berl) · 1981 · PMID 6791211 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  2. Regulation of acetylcholinesterase activity by nitric oxide in rat neuromuscular junction via N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor activationEur J Neurosci · 2013 · PMID 23121214 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  3. Cholinesterase activities and biochemical determinations in patients with prostate cancer: influence of Gleason score, treatment and bone metastasisBiomed Pharmacother · 2012 · PMID 22560633 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  4. Cholinergic dysfunction after traumatic brain injury: preliminary findings from a PET studyNeurology · 2011 · PMID 21422456 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  5. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids improve cholinergic transmission in the aged brainGenes Nutr · 2009 · PMID 19727886 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  6. Alterations of acetylcholinesterase activity after traumatic brain injury in ratsBrain Inj · 2007 · PMID 17891565 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  7. Exposure to enriched environment improves spatial learning performances and enhances cell density but not choline acetyltransferase activity in the hippocampus of ventral subicular-lesioned ratsBehav Neurosci · 2007 · PMID 17592940 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  8. Peripheral triiodothyronine (T(3)) levels during escapable and inescapable footshockPhysiol Behav · 2006 · PMID 16256154 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  9. Brain cholinesterases: II. The molecular and cellular basis of Alzheimer's diseaseMed Hypotheses · 2004 · PMID 15236795 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  10. Alzheimer's disease is associated with a selective increase in alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor immunoreactivity in astrocytesGlia · 2003 · PMID 12509811 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  11. Ca2+-mobilization and cell contraction after muscarinic cholinergic stimulation of the chick embryo lensInvest Ophthalmol Vis Sci · 2003 · PMID 14578403 · cited in Cataracts: water, energy, light, and aging
  12. Amyloid beta-peptide induces nitric oxide production in rat hippocampus: association with cholinergic dysfunction and amelioration by inducible nitric oxide synthase inhibitorsFASEB J · 2001 · PMID 11387239 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  13. Tacrine, a reversible acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, induces myopathyNeuroreport · 2000 · PMID 10817586 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  14. Nitric oxide is involved in acetylcholinesterase inhibitor-induced myopathy in ratsJ Pharmacol Exp Ther · 2000 · PMID 10991996 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  15. Nitric oxide synthase inhibitors unmask acetylcholine-mediated constriction of cerebral vessels in the in vitro isolated guinea-pig brainNeuroscience · 2000 · PMID 11074151 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  16. Chronic effects of low level exposure to anticholinesterases--a mechanistic reviewToxicol Lett · 1998 · PMID 10022307 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  17. Effect of tetrahydroaminoacridine, a cholinesterase inhibitor, on cognitive performance following experimental brain injuryJ Neurotrauma · 1997 · PMID 9475371 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  18. Effects of estrogen on potassium-stimulated acetylcholine release in the hippocampus and overlying cortex of adult ratsBrain Res · 1997 · PMID 9070640 · cited in Epilepsy and Progesterone
  19. In vivo serotonin release and learned helplessnessPsychiatry Res · 1994 · PMID 7991722 · cited in Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy, Intelligence and metabolism
  20. Does learned helplessness induction by haloperidol involve serotonin mediation?Pharmacol Biochem Behav · 1994 · PMID 7938121 · cited in Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy, Intelligence and metabolism
  21. A role for cholesterol as a structural effector of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptorBiochemistry · 1994 · PMID 8142409 · cited in Cholesterol, longevity, intelligence, and health
  22. Phosphoinositide second messengers in cholinergic excitotoxicityNeurotoxicology · 1994 · PMID 7854583 · cited in Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 1, BSE ("mad cow"), scrapie, etc.: Stimulated amyloid degeneration and the toxic fats
  23. Increased glucocorticoid receptor gene expression in the rat hippocampus following combined serotonergic and medial septal cholinergic lesionsBrain Res Mol Brain Res · 1994 · PMID 7877448 · cited in Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 2
  24. The role of the neurotransmitters acetylcholine and noradrenaline in the pathogenesis of stress ulcersComp Biochem Physiol C Comp Pharmacol Toxicol · 1993 · PMID 7903607 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  25. Acetylcholine output from the ischemic rat cerebral cortex: effects of adenosine agonistsBrain Res · 1993 · PMID 8186988 · cited in Epilepsy and Progesterone
  26. Effect of adenosine receptor agonists on spontaneous and K(+)-evoked acetylcholine release from the in vivo rat cerebral cortexBrain Res · 1993 · PMID 8481779 · cited in Epilepsy and Progesterone
  27. Cholinergic and opioid mediation of traumatic brain injuryJ Neurotrauma · 1992 · PMID 1351951 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  28. 5-HT3 receptor antagonists reverse helpless behaviour in ratsEur J Pharmacol · 1992 · PMID 1532555 · cited in Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy, Intelligence and metabolism
  29. Presynaptic serotonin mechanisms in rats subjected to inescapable shockNeuropharmacology · 1992 · PMID 1387924 · cited in Serotonin, depression, and aggression: The problem of brain energy, Intelligence and metabolism
  30. Bright light blocks the capacity of inescapable swim stress to supersensitize a central muscarinic mechanismPharmacol Biochem Behav · 1990 · PMID 2217505 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  31. Thyroparathyroidectomy produces a progressive escape deficit in ratsPhysiol Behav · 1990 · PMID 2236264 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  32. Sympathectomy alters acetylcholinesterase expression in adult rat heartCardiovasc Res · 1990 · PMID 2112043 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  33. Influence of menstrual cycle on serum cholinesteraseEnviron Res · 1989 · PMID 2753004 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  34. Triiodothyroacetic acid (TRIAC) potentiation of antidepressant-induced reversal of learned helplessness in ratsEur J Pharmacol · 1988 · PMID 3220108 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  35. Triiodothyronine potentiation of antidepressant-induced reversal of learned helplessness in ratsPsychiatry Res · 1987 · PMID 3628611 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  36. Triiodothyroacetic acid-induced reversal of learned helplessness in ratsEur J Pharmacol · 1987 · PMID 3569419 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  37. Adrenergic modulation of gastric stress pathology in rats: a cholinergic linkJ Auton Nerv Syst · 1987 · PMID 3693804 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  38. Metabolic and neurophysiologic sequelae of brain injury: a cholinergic hypothesisCent Nerv Syst Trauma · 1986 · PMID 3533278 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  39. Effect of stress and glucocorticoids on the gastrointestinal cholinergic enzymesArch Int Pharmacodyn Ther · 1986 · PMID 3718075 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)
  40. Cholinergic function and memory: extensive inhibition of choline acetyltransferase fails to impair radial maze performance in ratsPharmacol Biochem Behav · 1986 · PMID 3774818 · cited in The dark side of stress (learned helplessness)

Showing 40 of 49. Search all of them in the database →

Not affiliated with raypeat.com. This page describes Ray Peat's published articles in our own words and links to the originals. Educational content, not medical advice.

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