MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'brain activity'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:24:04 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4525031&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdoes-cell-phone-use-stimulate-brain-activity%2F2011.02.26 We all know that using a cell phone can stimulate the brain to work a bit harder. “Mr. Skerrett? This is Dr. LeWine’s office. Do you have a minute to talk about your test results?” or “Dad, a bunch of kids are going to Casey’s house after the dance. Can I go?” But a new study published in JAMA is making me wonder what the energy emitted by the phone itself — not just the information it delivers — is doing to my brain. Here’s the study in a nutshell. Dr. Nora Volkow and her colleagues recruited 47 volunteers to have their brain activity measured twice by a PET scanner. Both times the volunteer had a cell phone strapped to each ear. During one measurement, both phones were turned off. During the other, one phone was turned on but muted so the volunteer didn’t know... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4525031 Sat, 26 Feb 2011 22:00:29 +0100 4525031 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4512429&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F23%2Fcellphone-use-may-increase-brain-activity%2F Brain studies get more interest in the media, because the brain is truly one of the last great unknowns of the human body. While our understanding of the brain has made great strides in the past few decades, we still have only very basic and rudimentary knowledge of this important organ. Honestly, researchers still aren’t quite sure how the brain even works. When you consider where we are with our understanding of the brain’s basic functions, you have to take studies that use brain imagery with a healthy grain of salt. The consumption of sugar by the brain is thought to indicate important brain activity, but it’s a correlational association that researchers have documented. The latest “gee whiz!” brain study showed that when you put a muted cell phone next to ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4512429 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:28:44 +0100 4512429 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3913152&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F08%2F28%2Fwalking-yoga-helps-your-brain%2F Two studies out last week demonstrate connections between practicing yoga and simple walking may work to help improve your brain health. Previous research has linked exercise to helping keep our brains healthy. The two latest studies independently found that walking and yoga may help our brain health in different ways. To study the effects of walking on brain health, researchers followed a group of older adult “couch potatoes” — ages 59 to 80 — who joined a walking group, or stretching and toning group for a year… Researchers followed a group of “professional couch potatoes,” composed of 65 adults ages 59 to 80, who joined a walking group or stretching and toning group for a year. All of the participants were sedentary before the study, reporting less th... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3913152 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:10:47 +0100 3913152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3890474&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdr-frank-ryans-death-what-we-can-learn-from-it%2F2010.08.21 I’ll be honest — I’d never heard of Dr. Frank Ryan, a Hollywood plastic surgeon, until his tragic motor vehicle accident recently. Clients included actress Heidi Montag and boxer Oscar De La Hoya. Although the California Highway Patrol investigation isn’t complete, rumors have suggested that Dr. Ryan may have been text messaging when driving. If this is true and an intelligent, well-trained doctor can fall prey to the allure of technology, then what does it mean for the rest of us? First, realize that we can’t multitask. You have one brain. You can focus at one task at a time. Though laws allow hands-free cellphone calls, the issue isn’t trying to dial the phone but rather that the mind is engaged in the conversation and not on the road. Yes, we ar... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3890474 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:00:00 +0100 3890474 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3862010&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdevice-shows-concussion-effects-linger-off-the-field%2F2010.08.12 It’s an August tradition: Football training camps open, and we’re treated to warnings about working out in the heat. In the past few years, however, when it comes to football, there’s been a new emphasis on traumatic brain injury (TBI). This has caught our eyes here at MedGadget. We’ve covered innovative impact-sensing helmet technology before (as well as smart helmets for temperature monitoring). But for the athlete with a concussion, what happens off the field? Unless a neurologist is involved, it’s up to the players and trainers to follow guidelines or make guesses about when to return to play. Hopefully that will change, and a device like BrainScope will lead the way. When we first covered BrainScope, they were positioning their new device, based on contro... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3862010 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:00:29 +0100 3862010 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3656811&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fcan-stuttering-be-contagious%2F2010.06.12 Recently I was seeing a patient who was left with somewhat of a stutter after a prior stroke. It was a long history and probably longer for the patient, who had to work very hard to be understood through an unwanted speech impediment. Inexplicably, when I walked out of the room I started to stutter, too – I wasn’t trying to make light of the patient’s problem, and I had to stop talking for a few moments before I could speak in my normal cadence.  It was super-strange, like my brain heard the new cadence and said “Oh, that’s how you do it.”  Awful. It was embarrassing and weird. Fortunately the patient didn’t hear it, and I apologized to the staff who did. I have no idea why my mouth-brain connection picked that anomaly to repeat. Strange. Anyone el... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3656811 Sat, 12 Jun 2010 20:00:38 +0100 3656811 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3538150&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F05%2F06%2Fcan-fmri-tell-if-youre-lying%2F The simple answer is, no. You can now go back to work, content in that little tidbit of brain knowledge. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a fancy name for a brain scan that purportedly measures “brain activity.” What is actually measures is simply changes in blood oxygenation and flow in your brain, which we believe to be directly related to brain activity — but this is an indirect measure at best. It’s not actually measuring “brain activity.” fMRI scans are most often used in research to try and better understand our brains and how other things affect our brains (like mental illness or a specific cognitive activity). So you can imagine the challenges that might be faced when you connect this kind of brain measurement to a legal proceeding... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3538150 Thu, 06 May 2010 12:16:21 +0100 3538150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3208446&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F01%2F26%2Fptsd-brain-scan-hype%2F Last week, we noted along with many news outlets that a biomarker had been apparently discovered for PTSD. The researchers claimed they had a new tool to help make a differential diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The tool is a brain scanning technology that, like EEG, measures the brain’s electrical activity. But instead of directly measuring such activity, it measures magnetic fluctuations in the electrical activity. The technique is called MEG. There are certain technical benefits to this method as compared to a traditional EEG, so some researchers are exploring its greater use. Mind Hacks has a very good analysis of why the researchers’ claims were overreaching and a bit ridiculous: Crucially, the scan didn’t pick out cases of PTSD among people with ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3208446 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:08 +0100 3208446 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2967419&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2FIyJ1ZqXFUE8%2F This study aims to improve these and other related cognitive skills by using a driving game in which players practice paying attention to relevant information, such as traffic signs, and ignoring irrelevant information, such as billboards. The study monitors brain activity with electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and observes eye position and game performance in younger adults (ages 18 to 30) and older adults (ages 60 to 80) before and after six weeks of game play. The study assesses changes in cognitive ability, brain activity and transfer of game-related skills to similar cognitive operations and activities that take place in daily life. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) Reward Circuitry, Autism and Games that Teach Social Perceptual Skills – tests effe... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2967419 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:35:40 +0100 2967419 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2790299&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F13%2Ftest-predicts-depression-medication-response%2F Did you know that as much as some doctors and researchers like to think that medicine is a science, it is very much an art too? You can see that no more clearly than in the decision process doctors use to prescribe a specific psychiatric medication. Ask a psychiatrist what their usual depression treatment regimen is, and they’ll usually talk to you about using one or two different antidepressants they are most familiar and comfortable with prescribing — not which medication is best for the patient. Why is that? Wouldn’t you like to prescribe the most effective medication for a particular patient based upon their brain’s chemical structure and likely reaction to it? We sure would, but until recently, we had few ways to determine how a person might react to particular... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2790299 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:35:31 +0100 2790299 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2313765&cid=t_184508_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2Fx5zJki_4cpU%2F Times have changed in how patients who are potential donors are considered to be dead and therefore able to be organ donors. It used to be that you had to be brain dead, with no signs of brain activity, cardiac - heart - death wasn’t in the equation. This has changed an now those who are heart dead can be organ donors but the teams have to move fast for the organs to be viable. I came across this story this morning of two families, two infants, and two sad stories. In a nutshell, one baby can’t live. She goes into cardiac arrest when she sleeps and needs to be brought back to life each time. Because of this, 2-month-old Kaylee Wallace lives on a respirator in the province of Ontario. Many miles away, is another infant, 1-month-old Lily O’Connor who desperately needs a hea... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2313765 Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:46:53 +0100 2313765 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2079030&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F492395341%2F Welcome to the 61st edition of Encephalon, the blog carnival that offers some of the best neuroscience and psychology blog posts every other week. We do have an excellent set of articles today. covering much ground. Enjoy the reading: --- Neuroscience and Society Neuroanthropology, by Greg Downey The Flynn Effect: Troubles with Intelligence 2 Average IQ test scores had risen about 3 points per decade and in some cases more. Tests of vocabulary, arithmetic, or general knowledge (such as the sorts of facts one learns in school) have showed little increase, but scores have increased markedly on tests thought to measure ‘general intelligence’. MindHacks, by Vaughan Bell Medical jargon alters our understanding of disease Understanding how popular ideas influence our personal medic... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2079030 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:27:52 +0100 2079030 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2011686&cid=t_184508_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F03%2Frich-brains-poor-brains%2F From a University of California, Bekeley press release, “EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids,” by Robert Sanders. * * * University of California, Berkeley, researchers have shown for the first time that the brains of low-income children function differently from the brains of high-income kids. In a study recently accepted for publication by the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, scientists at UC Berkeley’s Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the School of Public Health report that normal 9- and 10-year-olds differing only in socioeconomic status have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity. Brain function was measured by means of an electroencephalogr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2011686 Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:59:36 +0100 2011686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2512975&cid=t_184508_140_f&fid=38154&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpatienttimes%2F%7E3%2Fx3lBSFmCUqk%2F I always take note of studies that draw connections between mental activity– aspects of consciousness—and the physical matter of the brain. I became interested in these connections a long time ago as an undergrad at Carroll College, when I wondered why eating dried-out mushrooms made the plant on the coffee table in my room in the fraternity house turn into a head that talked to me. I’m not trying to glorify drug use, but this was back in the 1970’s when everything was a bit different than it is now. I didn’t enjoy most of those experiences; the mushrooms in particular brought only frightening, painful experiences despite trying three times to find something pleasant about the psychosis that they induced. Supposedly the mushrooms contained psilocybin, but looking back I suspe... Patient Times blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2512975 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:45:08 +0100 2512975 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1985548&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F462979024%2F Like all psychiatric disorders, ADHD is diagnosed based on the presence of particular behavioral symptoms that are judged to cause significant impairment in an individual's functioning, and not on the results of a specific test. In fact, recently published ADHD evaluation guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) explicitly state that no particular diagnostic test should be routinely used when evaluating a child for ADHD. While most ADHD experts would agree that no single test could or should be used in isolation to diagnose ADHD, there are several important reasons why the availability of an accurate objective test would be useful. First, many children do not receive a careful and comprehensive assessment for ADHD but are instead diagnosed with based on evaluation procedure... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1985548 Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:11:23 +0100 1985548 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1833696&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F403898522%2F Playing the Blame Game -- Video games stand accused of causing obesity, violence, and lousy grades. But new research paints a surprisingly complicated and positive picture, reports Greater Good Magazine's Jeremy Adam Smith. Cheryl Olson had seen her teenage son play video games. But like many parents, she didn't know much about them. Then in 2004 the U.S. Department of Justice asked Olson and her husband, Lawrence Kutner, to run a federally funded study of how video games affect adolescents. Olson and Kutner are the co-founders and directors of the Harvard Medical School's Center for Mental Health and Media. Olson, a public health researcher, had studied the effects of media on behavior but had never examined video games, either in her research or in her personal life. And so the first thi... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1833696 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:05:04 +0100 1833696 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1798094&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F09%2F15%2Fcan-thinking-too-much-make-you-fat%2F Sounds like a strange question but, in a nutshell,  that’s what a group of Canadian researchers wanted to know. So they recruited 14 women and put their brains (and their stomachs) to work. After performing one of the three different tasks for 45 minutes - relaxing in a sitting position, reading and summarizing a text, or completing a series of memory, attention, and vigilance tests on the computer - the women were provided with an all-you-can-eat buffet to dig into. The researchers measured the sponstaneous food intake of the students following each activity and discovered that the women ate 203 more calories after the reading-writing task and 253 more calories after the memory and attention task than they did when they were just sitting around and relaxing. The researchers also di... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1798094 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:55:39 +0100 1798094 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1582925&cid=t_184508_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F07%2F06%2Fthe-sunday-sidebarlooking-inside-the-brain%2F Ain’t technology amazing? Check out this video where neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms talks about and demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity — thoughts, emotions, pain — in real time…. Tags: brain activity, christopher deCharms, mri, TED talks, VideoShare This (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1582925 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:12:27 +0100 1582925 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1553306&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F322096605%2F Try eating food with one chop stick.  It is possible, for certain types of food. But probably not the best approach. Let's now talk brain health. Dr. Larry McCleary is a former acting Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Denver Children's Hospital, and author of the The Brain Trust Program (Perigee Trade, 2007). He agreed to help us answer an important, yet often neglected, question: Given That We Are Our Brains, How do We Nourish Them? Alvaro: Dr. McCleary, Why did a former neurosurgeon such as yourself develop an interest in brain health public education? Dr. McCleary: For two reasons ... I am a Boomer and am trying to maximize my own brain health. Also, there is much exciting research documenting how we can be proactive in this regard. This information needs to be disseminated and I woul... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1553306 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:20:06 +0100 1553306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1468033&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F298069338%2F In this study, the researchers examined how people make a correct choice. Researchers compared the quality of decisions formed from conscious versus unconscious thinking with that resulting from unconscious thinking. Here is how they studied this issue. In one study, subjects were given information about the attributes of four hypothetical cars, and they were to decide which was the best car, based on the attributes assigned to each car. Analysis conditions were either simple (based on only four attributes) or complex (based on 12 attributes). After reading about the attributes, subjects were assigned to one of two groups: conscious analysis or to an unconscious thought condition. In the conscious condition, they thought about the attributes for four minutes before making a choice. In the ... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1468033 Mon, 26 May 2008 13:06:00 +0100 1468033 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1216679&cid=t_184508_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F231428084%2F We often hear (gladly!) how teachers use our blog articles and brain teasers in their classes. We also hear how many psychology and biology teachers are getting their students excited about brain research, and, to contribute to their efforts, we like to recognize some great initiatives. Last year, Jeffrey Gonce, a Psychology teacher at Red Land High School (West Shore School District, PA) asked his students to "complete a project describing a recent brain (or genetic) study that affects behavior." The students could opt to post their articles online, and Jeffrey was kind enough to send us a link to read the results. We enjoyed reading them all, and published in our blog this beautiful essay, titled "Tis better to give than receive", written by Alexandra, which was subse... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1216679 Fri, 08 Feb 2008 06:54:22 +0100 1216679