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 trauma'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:20:25 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331190&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F10%2Ftheres-enough-insanity-to-go-around%2F Gun control activists are not just concerned about the criminally insane having guns. (Such diagnoses are too often only made after a shoot-’em-up anyway!) Otherwise sane people can act violently, too, and guns just make things that much worse. When I hear criminals dismissed by news-jockies as “crazy”, “unbalanced”, “off”, I sometimes take on those [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331190 Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:21:13 +0100 4331190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4327040&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F09%2Ftheres-enough-insanity-to-go-around%2F Even some of my best friends…can be described as having, at least, a nodding acquaintance with mental illness. While, as far as I know, a police check would not flag me as mentally ill, I probably owe that more to the fact that my only direct personal contact with police has been cordial and no [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4327040 Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:21:13 +0100 4327040 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880859&cid=t_116507_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fnew-york-times-lou-gehrig-may-not-have-had-lou-gehrigs-disease%2F2010.08.18 This was one time when the headline was okay, but the story that followed had our heads spinning. “Study Says Brain Trauma Can Mimic Lou Gehrig’s Disease” is a story that was troubling on a number of fronts. It reported on a study which at the time had not yet been published suggesting that some “athletes and soldiers given a diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis…might have been catalyzed by injuries only now becoming understood: concussions and other brain trauma.” To be clear — and please don’t anyone miss or miscontrue this point — this is an important and fascinating area of research. But the story did not exhibit the best of health/medical/science journalism: 1. It was based on a study of 3 people. (The ALS Association says th... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880859 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:00:38 +0100 3880859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3502952&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F24%2Fthe-happy-and-the-dreadfully-sad-of-april-24%2F Does anyone in Toronto know where I could get French-language greeting cards? Well, one more time, I had to mail an English birthday card to Craig’s partner, Claude.  Now he’s always up for anything that will improve his second-language skills but, as a gesture, I just think French-language cards for him would be nice. April [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3502952 Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:07:38 +0100 3502952 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3463558&cid=t_116507_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fphoto-of-the-day-campaigning-for-awareness-of-brain-trauma-in-nfl%2F Sylvia Mackey, below, is one of the women featured in a New York Times photo slideshow and article, “In NFL Fight, Women Lead the Way”. Mackey is one of six women leading the movement for better awareness and mitigation of brain trauma and dementia risks associated with the NFL. Her husband, John, was once a leader of the football players union and now suffers dementia. Photo: Josh Haner/The New York Times Post from: BlissTree Photo of the Day: Campaigning for Awareness of Brain Trauma in NFL (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3463558 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:37:06 +0100 3463558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2611053&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F%3Fp%3D250 Today, Posit Science announced the release of a new Web-based visual training tool, DriveSharp, specifically designed to improve the performance abilities of adult automobile drivers to a degree that can be expected to very substantially impact their driving safety. This training employs two very important brain plasticity-based strategies to improve your visual assets that support safe driving. The first is the “Useful Field of View Training” developed and patented by Drs. Karlene Ball (University of Alabama at Birmingham) and Daniel Roenker (University of Western Kentucky). Their training tool addresses a key problem that arises in older individuals: the progressive contraction of their “useful field of view” (UFOV). As you get older, you progressively lose the ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2611053 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:01:42 +0100 2611053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570897&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F%3Fp%3D248 I received a wonderful comment about the hypothesis that early umbilical cord clamping might contribute to the risk of origin of autism from a wonderful former colleague, Dr. David Blake, a researcher in the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Georgia. His observations: Fraternal twins typically have different placentas, whereas identical twins share a placenta but have different cords. The blood supply, and pre-clamping susceptibility to anoxia, would surely be different. There are plenty of reviews associating prenatal or perinatal anoxia with autism already (as well as advanced maternal and/or paternal age). Given that early cord clamping clearly impacts perinatal anoxia, and has been recommended against, it would seem prudent to just change practice and see where that lea... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570897 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 22:42:51 +0100 2570897 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570898&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F%3Fp%3D246 I delivered a lecture sponsored by the Danish Neuroscience Society and the Helene Elsass Center (a wonderful new research institution in the suburbs of Copenhagen) that has developed a state-of-the-art research and treatment center focusing on cerebral palsy. I was delighted to sit down with the Center’s Director, Peder Esben Bilde, to review new training software developed by therapists and University of Copenhagen scientists affiliated with the Center, and implemented with the help of a local computer game company. The software uses a conventional computer camera to dynamically record the location of colored bands strapped around a few fingers or hand or wrist or elbow or neck or ankle. The software tracks the motion of these bands in relation to stationary or moving computer-screen-lo... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570898 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:05:29 +0100 2570898 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570899&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F%3Fp%3D239 Millions of individuals (2% of humankind) are plagued by continuous sounds generated in their skulls, not coming from the real world. Because these ringing or roaring sounds are inescapable and because they strongly influence emotional-control processes in the brain, they can literally drive an individual who hears them incessantly just a little bit crazy. No one dies from tinnitus (although its sufferers have a substantially elevated suicide rate). But it represents one of a long list of brain plasticity-generated problems that can substantially degrade – and in the extreme, destroy – a sufferer’s quality of life. I am writing this blog from a scientific meeting in Italy at which 20 top neuroscientists (about half of who some level of direct understanding of tinnitus; the other half... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570899 Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:27:01 +0100 2570899 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570905&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F%3Fp%3D228 I strongly encourage our readers to check out the newly published book “Move Into Life”, authored by a highly distinguished therapist (and personal friend) Anat Baniel. Anat was originally trained by Moshe Feldenkrais, who developed a novel empirical perspective about physical/cognitive/perceptual rehabilitation that is broadly consistent with the principles of brain plasticity neuroscience. She has very significantly elaborated those practices, and has gradually encorporated a richer scientific perspective into them. Anat summarizes this deeper understanding in this important book — which is full of good information and advice, both for the therapist, and the patient. At the core of her approach is the understanding that awareness, cognition and movement are really insep... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570905 Wed, 06 May 2009 15:46:17 +0100 2570905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2272383&cid=t_116507_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FZe9fhO7WebM%2F Downhill skiing is a fun, but dangerous sport. While thousands (millions, really) of people ski without injury, many don’t and some of the injuries are life-threatening or even fatal. Tony-award winning actress, Natasha Richardson has just joined that group of people, according to the news. Brain injuries can be devastating. They can change a life - and the lives of the family members in a split second. But even mild and moderate brain traumas can have a significant impact on a life. I woke up this morning and was listening to the radio, when I heard a report about the accident. So I checked it out on a local news station’s website. Both Access Hollywood and People.com report the same thing. Richardson, wife to Liam Neeson, is reported to have sustained a traumatic brain injury... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2272383 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:58:20 +0100 2272383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1395156&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F04%2F24%2Fa-year%2F It was one year ago today, April 24, that my brother Craig fell, outside his home in Montreal, and suffered severe brain trauma.  He died the following May 9, four days shy of his fifty-second birthday. We’ll be honouring his memory closer to that day. (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1395156 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:22:22 +0100 1395156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1338073&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F03%2F30%2Fa-bit-of-my-reality%2F For the past ten days or so I’ve been sick with an antibiotics-required cold (sinuses, chest, the works).  It’s the third or fourth of the winter.  Oh wait, it’s now spring.  Thank goodness Mom didn’t catch it when I visited her Easter weekend. I don’t feel like talking to people just for the sake of reaching out.  Besides, [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1338073 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:55:51 +0100 1338073 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1236246&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F02%2F15%2Fone-year-on-im-reminded-of-scuttled-mothers-day-plans-and-the-sad-reason-why%2F Around this time last year, my siblings and I were excitedly planning a Mother’s Day gift.  Today I learned that the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Director of Development Operations will be leaving that post next week.  I wrote him a brief email wishing him well and letting him know how the Mother’s Day plans last [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1236246 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:27:11 +0100 1236246 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1204692&cid=t_116507_87_f&fid=35060&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthnewsblog.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fhnblog.pl%3Fhnblog%3D201081 The video from the Wall Street Journal discusses the issue of hidden tramatic brain injuries. Many researchers believe that hidden traumatic brain injuries may be the cause of social or educational failure for many people. Mt. Sinai School of Medicine is behind some important research in this area. Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Advertisement: Find flowers, greeting cards, candy, gift ideas and more in ShoppersShop.com's Valentine's Day Shopping section. (Source: HealthNewsBlog.com) HealthNewsBlog.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1204692 Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:15:00 +0100 1204692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1072441&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F12%2F05%2Fmisconception-about-the-neurology-of-aging-2%2F Memory (cognitive ability, executive control, motor control, whatever) resides in a place(s). If we fix that (those) place(s), we fix memory (our failing faculties). For MEMORY, as an example, most scientists focus on one of three places: 1) the hippocampus, for ‘episodic’ or ‘long-term memory’; 2) the inferior/medial temporal or lateral frontal cortex, for ‘immediate’ or ‘working memory’; or 3) the frontal cortex, for ‘executive control’ It has been easy to show that your memory or your ‘executive control’ suffers – in fact, can be almost obliterated – by damage to, or the temporary, magnetic-stimulation-achieved shut-down of these key brain regions. It has been easy to show the machinery in the hippocampus or temporal/frontal cortex doesn’t work v... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1072441 Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:36:54 +0100 1072441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1001065&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F11%2F02%2Fa-top-ten-list-misconceptions-by-scientists-and-the-public-about-the-neurological-bases-of-memorycognitive-losses-in-aging%2F In early October, I attended a meeting sponsored by the National Institute on Aging and the McKnight Foundation considering the general subject of cognitive decline in aging populations. I found the meeting to be useful, and distressing. Useful, because this subject is now on the front burner for the NIA, just as it is for the general public. Distressing, because progress in this area is still being frustrated by widespread misconceptions in the scientific community about what neurological aging is all about, and this meeting vividly showed that those misconceptions still abound in ‘the best’ government-supported reseaarch. Over the next week or two, I am going to discuss some of the misconceptions (there are more) that still limit our understanding of the neurological bases o... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1001065 Fri, 02 Nov 2007 21:43:36 +0100 1001065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=927960&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F10%2F04%2Fa-traumatic-brain-injury-success-story%2F About two weeks ago, Posit Science was visited by a family who appeared to have greatly benefited from the use of our Brain Fitness Program. This family’s story began with a late-night boating accident involving a beloved young son, circa 20 years of age. The boat that Ryan was riding in was struck by a second speeding boat. He was thrown overboard in the accident, and his skull crushed between the two boats. Direct injury to his brain, and further damage from subsequent bleeding and from the shards of bone embedded within the flesh of the brain was extensive. In this live-or-die situation, significant sections of his damage frontal lobes were necessarily further compromised by the surgery that was required to remove multiple bone fragments from his brain. Ryan was stiff and spastic.... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=927960 Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:13:03 +0100 927960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=925412&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F10%2F03%2Fptsd-as-a-modern-invention%2F Like many of you, I have spent quite a few hours over the past 10 days watching the Ken Burns PBS program personalizing World War II. I thought that it brought this war home for me, more informatively and more poignantly than all but a few of the great War movies (All’s Quiet on the Western Front, Paths of Glory, Saving Private Ryan). I learned three things about PTSD from these programs that I had not fully appreciated. First, the graphic depiction of battle in World War II dramatically verified the amazingly rich food for growing PTSD in a young man’s brain in this conflict. Shocking, disturbing to the max, terrifying, exhausting, degrading, hyper-stimulating, you REALLY wouldn’t want to have been there. Second, 25% of the soldiers sent home from the War had no physica... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=925412 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:04:44 +0100 925412 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=885427&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F09%2F19%2Ffor-crying-out-loud%2F There’s a note on my computer desktop: “BLOG GRIEF”. Actually it reads, “BLOG GRIEF…LAUNDRY”. As much as I hate doing it, the laundry seems like the easier project. I have had a difficult time talking about, let alone blogging about, the grief I feel following my older brother’s death last May. Craig, like me, was gay [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=885427 Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:16:24 +0100 885427 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=788250&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F08%2F08%2Fabby-has-her-ups-and-downs%2F I thought that I’d give you a brief update on how little Abby is doing. As you may remember, my daughter’s 4-year-old niece suffered from several minutes of asphyxiation in a playground accident. She emerged from a week-long coma with clear physical and behavioral signs of subcortical brain damage. Abby is now a month out, and is still in the rehabilitation hospital. She’ll probably be there for another 2 months (or longer). Abby is still stiff, and is still being treated with anti-spasticity medication (although she is on a low dose). The hospital was organized to provide 3 days of physical therapy/ week — but with Nancy Byl’s help (Nancy is a long-time friend and collaborator, a good soul, for many years the Chairman of the PT Department at UCSF), the paren... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=788250 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:07:19 +0100 788250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=785948&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F08%2F07%2Fwhats-it-all-about%2F The objective over a 2-3 year period, is to continue to elaborate this blog content and to write a short series of such books (3 more are on my schedule), to provide a brain science perspective about normal brain development, function, aging, and disease, and about brain plasticity-based therapeutics designed to address a wide variety of problems that variously limit the achievements of children and adults in need of help. When this ‘backgrounder’ information about the book appears at this site, we’ll stow it at a place where you can easily avoid it! On the other hand, if the book captures your interests to the extent that you want to read or understand more about its stroll through the neuroscience of brain plasticity through a lifetime, if you’re up for it, I&#82... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=785948 Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:20:48 +0100 785948 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=764383&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F07%2F28%2Fa-cognitive-reserve-is-a-good-thing-to-work-on%2F Dave B and Alvaro have had an interesting (albeit, brief) discussion in their comments about the subject of the hypothetical “cognitive reserve” that stands between each one of us, and the timing of the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). First, Dave B said that while he saw ample evidence that most cognitively capable (”highly educated”) individuals that were in his studies at Medical College of Georgia seemed to be far removed from any danger of AD in their immediate future (in strong contrast to individuals in his studies who were poorly educated, and/or were less cognitively active), he saw no clear evidence in the literature that convincingly demonstrated that the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease could be delayed by cognitive training or enrichment. Al... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=764383 Sat, 28 Jul 2007 20:00:00 +0100 764383 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=747236&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F07%2F20%2Fthe-wider-face-of-ptsd%2F PTSD in Iraq spreads well beyond the boundaries of our armed services. For example: a) Several times as many Iraqi police and military personnel as Coalition personnel have died in the conflict. Proportionally larger numbers have been wounded. And they are out there, as are our own troops, on the front lines of violence and mayhem. PTSD must be a substantial problem in their ranks. b) Blackwater (one of 9 or 10 major civilian contractors in Iraq) has recently reported that their rates of PTSD incidence approximately match those incurred by our troops. c) PTSD has to be a major problem for Iraqi civilians. If its rates of incidence parallels that recorded in our soldiers, about 5 MILLION individuals are affected. We’ve noted earlier that the probability of onset of PTSD is a function... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=747236 Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:51:36 +0100 747236 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=744888&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F07%2F19%2Fjust-about-any-old-bad-thing-increases-the-risk-of-onset-of-alzheimers-disease%2F About 2 weeks ago, I read a Wall Street Journal article that documented a growing body of evidence that shows that major depression occurring in late middle age doubles the probability that an individual shall have significant cognitive impairments after the age of 65, and that it very significantly increases the probability that life shall end badly, i.e., in the clutches of Alzheimer’s Disease. A history of depression is one of a very long list of factors contributing to increased AD risk. Exposure to a little mercury or to other heavy metals, exposure to PCBs and a host of other biotoxins, traumatic brain injury, a little stroke or two or three, a childhood history of learning impairments, limited mobility, a little ongoing oxygen deprivation, or a history of mental disability are... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=744888 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:49:47 +0100 744888 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=742662&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F07%2F18%2Fred-red-wine-2%2F One of the most interesting efforts targeting the development of anti-aging drugs stems from research conducted at Harvard that led to the identication of the compound in red wine (resveratrol) that accounts for its anti-aging properties. This compound is believed to activate a gene called SIRT-1, which appears to have a role in regulating lifespan in mammals. No one knows exactly what this gene does, or how its anti-aging effects are achieved. One hypothesis that has gained some experimental support is that this gene is also activated by caloric restriction, which is known to increase longevity. Alas, we don’t really understand the mechanisms of origins of THAT effect, either. The answer shall be of high importance, for bringing these potentially powerful therapeutic approaches into... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=742662 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:00:20 +0100 742662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=737613&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F07%2F16%2Fwhen-brain-injury-hits-home%2F Because my research has focused on the neuroscience of rehabilitation for several decades, I have received hundreds of email messages, letters and telephone calls from parents and grand-parents desperately seeking help for their brain-damaged or developmentally-impaired child or grand-child. Because the losses suffered from brain injury and developmental disabilities expressed in this correspondence is usually daunting, and because it is so difficult to understand their nature and their true neurological and experiential origins at a distance, it is usually impossible to provide significant help. Because I am remote from the child’s and their familys’ struggles, I also know that I generally do not really fully appreciate the anxieties and distresses and frustrations that they m... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=737613 Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:11:15 +0100 737613 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=721380&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F07%2F09%2Ftwo-months-sans-craig%2F It was two months ago today, on May 9, 2007, that my brother Craig breathed his last and physically left us. While it has been a difficult couple of months for me, as detailed throughout this blog, today I am just thinking of Craig, a mentor - and not just to me - in so many [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=721380 Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:06:04 +0100 721380 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=707679&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F30%2Fan-update-on-craig-chaplin-memorial-fund%2F Craig’s partner, Claude, is visiting Mom for this holiday weekend and he brought along a list of donors to The Chaplin Memorial Fund. To date over one hundred people have donated a total of more than five thousand dollars, to be added to Craig’s original bequest.  Mom and Claude were curious about a few of the donors [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=707679 Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:47:33 +0100 707679 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=706634&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F29%2Fimportant-update-on-risk-factors-contributing-to-ptsd-onset%2F In our last entry on this subject, we summarized risk factors for PTSD onset as follows: “You just DON’T want to be a) an ambidextrous b) Latino c) who has a history of cognitive or learning impairment and d) who suffers additional diffuse or localized brain trauma e) in parallel with an exposure to f) repeated disturbing experiences.” Today, we add another factor: You just don’t want to be FROM New Orleans, because citizens of The Big Easy are about 10 times more likely to suffer from PTSD than from your average, not-too-recently-horribly-traumatized Great American City. So if you’re an ambidextrous Crescent City Latino who has been knocked about on their head a few times, you might want to slow down a little on that stroll to the Recruiting Center! (Source: On ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=706634 Sat, 30 Jun 2007 06:41:51 +0100 706634 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=703138&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F28%2Ftherapeutically-reliving-and-elaborating-your-traumatic-experiences-can-be-harmful%2F In the June 18th issue of Newsweek, Sharon Begley wrote an opinion column that must have raised a few hackles in the psychotherapy community. In her words, “…(for) patients seeking psychotherapy….talking can be dangerous … and therapists have not exactly rushed to tell them so.” One well-documented class of examples has come from “stress debriefing”, a standard procedure used to help individuals who have experienced a traumatic event — like the Virginia Tech ‘massacre’, for example. The goal in such therapies is to forcefully encourage individuals to discuss and seriously self-examine their feelings about the traumatic episode(s) — and to relive it in detail, through their own descriptions. It turns out that patients who ha... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=703138 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:54:39 +0100 703138 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=703139&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F28%2Fon-the-brain-gets-a-new-url%2F Those of you who struggle to spell “Merzenich” might be happy to know that you can now (and forever after) access this blog at www.onthebrain.com. (Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D.) On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=703139 Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:13:21 +0100 703139 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=699346&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F06%2F27%2Fmedical-update-an-amazing-check-up%2F To refresh your memoriy, I have been off one of my HIV meds (I forgot it at home) since the day after Craig’s accident on April 24. While I stayed on everything else while in Perth, I went off everything - more or less - when I had quite a breakdown upon my return to [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=699346 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:27:41 +0100 699346 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=699367&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F26%2Fbrain-fitness-training-measuring-psycho-social-dimensions-of-brain-health%2F Dr. William Bailey’s June 22nd comments about a study that he and his colleague Jean Turner are conducting on the impacts of Brain Fitness Program training on symptoms of depression, self-efficacy and related psycho-social dimensions in older individuals is worth special mention. We welcome these two University of Arkansas scientists into our community, and look forward to their study results. BFP training specifically targets neurological processes that govern positive good spirits and self-awareness, and we believe that Drs. Bailey and Turner SHOULD measure positive outcomes resulting from this training — but as in all scientific investigations, time will tell! Dr. Bailey, as you and Dr. Turner gather and analyze your data, please let us ALL know about your experiences and ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=699367 Wed, 27 Jun 2007 06:04:15 +0100 699367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=683502&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F19%2Fwhy-not-fix-it-before-it-breaks%2F An article in the New York Times published about two weeks ago mirrored by an article in the AARP Bulletin bumptiously extolled the wonderful energies in the pharmaceutical industry directed toward medical strategies for more effectively treating or ‘curing’ Alzheimers Disease. The NYT science writer focussed on Wyeth Laboratories, because they are putting down most of their chips on an AD play. Both articles pointed out, quite correctly, that there is a tremendous effort and substantial treasure being expended in this drug development arena, and that almost every major manufacturer is working hard to crack this nut. The marginally effective drugs now available for AD patients have been highly profitable for their producers; new proprietary drugs that could actually arrest the ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=683502 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:56:49 +0100 683502 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=676714&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F06%2F10%2Fracing-through-life%2F Race car driving was the last thing Marilyn Kays expected to be doing at the age of 63. Her late husband called her ‘grandma’ because of her pokey driving. After completing Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program, where she made great individual progress, Marilyn felt more confident than ever before. She noticed that she remembered things like her bank account number without trying. Her outlook on life was more positive, and completing the program eased her battle with depression, so much so that she was able to get off her medication. Marilyn was feeling so confident and frisky that she decided to enroll in a driving class for high-performance cars. “I would have never done that before; I wouldn’t have even thought of it,” Marilyn told us. ”I’m taking more chances than e... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=676714 Sun, 10 Jun 2007 16:49:18 +0100 676714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651332&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F31%2Fmea-culpa%2F One of my favorite former research fellows, David Blake, has chided me for posting multiple blog entries on some days, followed by several entry-less days. “Spread ‘em out!”, says Dave. “There should be something new and worthwhile to read EVERY day.” Since David is considerably smarter than me, and because he’s a real engineer who technologically intimidates his old professor and knows a well-run blog-site when he sees one, I know he’s right, and will obey! From now on, at least one new entry will appear at this blogsite, every day. Count on it! Thanks, Dave! (Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D.) On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651332 Thu, 31 May 2007 23:39:11 +0100 651332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651333&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F31%2Fhow-can-we-help-our-brain-traumatized-soldiers-and-vets-nancy-raises-a-call-for-action%2F On May 23rd, Nancy Martin-Crisco wrote a heart-rending response to a blog I posted on May 18th (”How to get PTSD. Twice. Worse.”) that you all should read. Her son Christopher was diagnosed with PTSD after service in Afghanistan. After a few months stateside, he was redeployed to Baghdad. It was NOT good for him. Addiction, divorce, separation from his child, depression, anxiety, anger mangagement issues, problems with relationships, poor focus, still PTSD, a feeling of worthlessness and shame because he’s here, with us, discharged because of his addiction after 10 years in the Army, instead of with his fellow soldiers, who he feels he has let down………. CHRISTOPHER BLAMES HIMSELF. How utterly and totally unfair that is. Christopher, the changes that you exper... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651333 Thu, 31 May 2007 23:00:06 +0100 651333 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=651266&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F31%2Fto-pissed-off-housewife-re-250-posts-to-tell-you-why-im-pissed%2F ((My dear POH)): Congrats on 250 posts! Your anger, the particulars of some of which I share as if we were sitting under a tree together reciting a litany against the cruelties of life, is occasionally red - not black, white, nor gray. Anger, long something (for many of us) we “shouldn’t” feel, has more than [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=651266 Thu, 31 May 2007 20:20:09 +0100 651266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=645385&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F29%2Fa-brain-fitness-graduate-comes-home%2F A couple of weeks ago, Jerry Emmons shared his story with Posit Science. It seems that the 84-year-old was spending much of each day re-living old, painful World War II memories. He had been the only survivor in his crew and the horror was haunting him more and more. “Post-traumatic stress disorder,” said his doctor. And it was getting worse. PTSD was just one of Jerry’s cognitive challenges. He was losing control: getting lost while driving and walking, feeling afraid of going out, having difficulty remembering everyday things that were crucial to his welfare, and causing his wife Marline no end of worry. Ultimately, Marline saw no alternative to having Jerry take up residence in a senior community where he could live a less stressful life and get the help that he need... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=645385 Tue, 29 May 2007 19:26:21 +0100 645385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623896&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F18%2Fhow-to-get-ptsd-twice-worse%2F I just read disturbing comments by a highly respected University of California doc Karen Seal [who screens and treats returning veterans from Iraq or Afghanistan at San Francisco’s famous Ft. Miley Veterans Hospital, one of our premier VA Research Hospitals] about the redeployment of young soldiers treated for PTSD and other neurological and psychatric problems back to Mid-East war zones [http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,136020,00.html]. Effective last December, service members with a “psychiatric disorder in remission, or whose residual symptoms do not impair duty performance” may be sent back to Iraq or Afghanistan. The redeployment decision will be made by their military commanders. Dr. Seal stated flatly that patients under her direct care had been deployed ba... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623896 Fri, 18 May 2007 23:00:55 +0100 623896 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=623897&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F18%2Feveryone-doesnt-feel-the-pain%2F Neil Pearson wrote an inspirational and informative comment from a soldier on the front lines of pain therapy about my last entry [which described another neurological confirmation of an empathetic response actually engaging the pain centers of the brain, when a subject witnessed realistic (fake) videos of inflicted pain]. If pain is an issue for you, I encourage you to read his comment. I forgot to mention something important in my brief report. Beyond stoicism, perhaps not so very far in distance, is the psychopath whose brain simply does not respond to witnessing pain. A number of studies have now shown that the brains of such individuals just don’t respond with normal activation patterns reflecting felt pain and empathy, when they witness even horrific pain or suffering incurred ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=623897 Fri, 18 May 2007 20:29:20 +0100 623897 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620644&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F16%2Fi-feel-your-pain%2F In the May issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex, a group from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Japan reported interesting results from a study in which “pain centers” in the brain were shown to be activated by WITNESSING pain afflicted to others. If you see someone being poked with a sharp needle in a (fake) movie, your brain responds as if YOU’VE been poked, and your brain responds as if YOU hurt. (I can almost see you wincing, as you read this!) IT HURTS, WHEN YOU THINK IT SHOULD. If I flash a red light each time I burn your skin, you’ll learn that the red light means “pain”. If I flash a green light each time I just warm your skin a little without burning it, you’ll understand that the green light means “no pa... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620644 Thu, 17 May 2007 06:19:21 +0100 620644 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620646&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F15%2Fwest-nile-virus-is-also-on-the-list%2F In Caldwell, Idaho, on the Snake River in Western Idaho, Dr. Carolyn Rees tells us that she was at ground zero during a West Nile Virus epidemic “leaving many people with post-encephalitic brain damage”. A review of the research literature on WNV includes a number of studies now documenting enduring memory and other cognitive losses as a predictable outcome of a WNV infection. The prevalence of this kind of virus (an “arborvirus”) is growing continuously in the US. The disease is primarily spread via mosquito-transmitted infections in birds. Where the disease has had a long history, some mammals are also commonly infected (e.g., in Northern Africa, where this plague originated, nearly 100% of horses have WNV antibodies marking a historic infection; tragically, in th... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620646 Tue, 15 May 2007 22:03:11 +0100 620646 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620442&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F09%2Fa-craig-chaplin%2F May 13, 1955 - May 9, 2007 Facebook me! (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620442 Wed, 09 May 2007 20:18:27 +0100 620442 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=620443&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F09%2Fwhennot-if%2F Craig has been pretty much unresponsive since Saturday, with and without the ventilator. Monday an e-c-g type of test, with those non-intrusive thing-a-ma-bobs, was done on his brain and there was very little significant activity. It seems he has been shutting down. His health-care team now says it is a matter of when, and not [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=620443 Wed, 09 May 2007 16:16:14 +0100 620443 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=598194&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F08%2Fwas-that-will-really-free%2F Not Shakespeare, mind you. We’re talking about the infamous Mr. Seung-Hui Cho. Stephanie noted in a comment that Sharon Begley had written very cogently (and generally in agreement with what I had written) about the origins of behavior that could result in something like the Virginia Tech massacre. Sharon Begley is a highly informed science writer who really understands the basic science of brain plasticity, and as a Wall Street Journal writer, has helped introduce the wider world to its principles. She is now directing the science writing agenda for Newsweek, and is publishing a new, important blog that you would probably enjoy reading (http://labnotes.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=566491). In the April 30th issue of Newsweek, Begley’s article titled “Anatomy of a ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=598194 Tue, 08 May 2007 16:06:02 +0100 598194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=592742&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F06%2Fweighing-the-news%2F I had no sooner posted that the ventilator had finally been removed from Craig when we learned that it needed to be re-inserted because he was having difficulty clearing some chest congestion and his breathing was generally laboured. Nevertheless, yesterday the news was that his left hand had shown some signs of life. Indeed he had [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=592742 Sun, 06 May 2007 18:51:28 +0100 592742 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=590487&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F04%2Fa-small-dose-of-good-news%2F Craig had the ventilator removed today, finally, just before noon.  When my sister phoned with the news he had not yet tried to speak.  No doubt his throat would be parched after eleven days with that obstruction! He is still sleeping a good deal of the time and, otherwise, there is very little news to report. Mom [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=590487 Fri, 04 May 2007 19:24:10 +0100 590487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=588616&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F03%2Fgetting-caffeinated-in-perth-ontario%2F Here I sit at one of four desktop computers surrounding a wood beam in Coutts & Co. coffee emporium, in a small corner of what used to be a felt mill overlooking Perth’s lovely Stewart Park.  Code’s Mill on the Park is a very urbane destination in the beautiful town of Perth. It is actually the second [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=588616 Thu, 03 May 2007 20:38:05 +0100 588616 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=585313&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F02%2Fthanks-for-all-the-messages%2F Between Facebook, my email and the comments here, I am so grateful for all the messages of encouragement! Craig remains about the same which, if nothing else, allows us all to get used to the unimaginable.  So long as his condition is critical there seems little use in speculating about the prognosis for any measure of [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=585313 Wed, 02 May 2007 19:54:36 +0100 585313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=585317&cid=t_116507_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F05%2F01%2Fupdate-on-craig-2%2F I was very happy - but not the least bit surprised! - to receive the news of last evening’s successful NDP nomination meeting in Toronto Centre.  I cannot tell you how much I look forward to the election campaign being “Job 1″ for me.  Such is not the case now as we mark the days watching [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=585317 Tue, 01 May 2007 17:49:31 +0100 585317 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=586066&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F01%2Fjacks-hippocampus-is-bigger-than-yours%2F My dog Jack, shown here, thinking, has a proportionally larger hippocampus than you do. If I had a pet bunny, its hippocampus would be (proportionally) larger, still!! You’ve probably heard a lot about the crucial role that the hippocampus plays in recording our “episodic” (historic, serial, ‘long-term’) memories. Does this mean that we should revise that age old saying to “Molly has a memory like a ………….. rabbit!”. Or what?! Or put another way, what can a rabbit or dog DO, that is decisively superior to YOU? It turns out that dogs and especially rabbits have an exquisite ability to reconstruct and remember their spatial environments, on the basis of visual and olfactory cues in their landscape environments. I learned this ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=586066 Tue, 01 May 2007 16:41:34 +0100 586066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=586067&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F05%2F01%2Fnew-%25e2%2580%259cvisual%25e2%2580%259d-fitness-programs%2F It was big local news at Posit Science last week when its scientists and engineers completed the development of a new suite of intensive brain plasticity-based training programs targeting declining visual perception, visual attentional control, eye movement control, and related cognitive abilities — and released the programs internally, for evaluation by its “outcomes research” team. Very extensive testing has already shown that these new programs can substantially rejuvenate the visual capabilities – and related visual cognitive skills — of the older brain. Now, controlled scientific studies shall determine the overall effectiveness of this program suite, as well as the additive and possibly synergistic values of applying this very extensive new program with Posit’s al... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=586067 Tue, 01 May 2007 15:54:05 +0100 586067 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=555043&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F19%2Fa-good-life-spent-usefully-to-help%2F I was on the organizing committee and attended a National Academy of Sciences and W.M. Keck Foundation-sponsored meeting several months ago addressing the science and technology of “Smart Prosthetics”. “Smart” prosthetics use information from the brain (or deliver information to the brain) to guide or control their functionality — for example, to control an artificial limb, to restore hearing or vision, to re-animate a paralyzed trunk or arm, etc. One of the important young contributors to this meeting was a young Engineering (Biomechanics) Professor, Kevin Granata, a world authority on the abnormal biodynamics of patients with spinal injuries and cerebral palsy. Dr. Granata’s business address was 307 Norris Hall, Virginia Tech University. When he heard ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=555043 Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:50:44 +0100 555043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552124&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F18%2Fwhy-we-do-research%2F Why do we study autistic or dyslexic or schizophrenic or other subjects, in our scientific experiments? That is a question that was asked, rather impolitely, by “dyslexic in LA”, who challenged the “arrogance” of a perspective that engages such individuals as “scientific guinea pigs”. There are two simple answers to this question. 1. We want to understand. 2. If possible, we want to help. There are few if any individuals in the current era who have contributed more to understanding and helping autistic individuals than Tito, Soma, and Portia. I’ve tried to help them. I have the GREATEST respect and admiration for Tito, and for every other individual that has been clinically identified as “autistic” that has contributed to the struggle ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552124 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 17:25:46 +0100 552124 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=552125&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F18%2Fthe-brain-and-the-law-when-bobby-goes-bad%2F Each year I deliver a “guest lecture” in a medical ethics course at Stanford. My friend Bill Hurlbut, a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, is the course director. The issues that I raise in this course were addressed in part by an interesting cover story in the March 11th New York Times Sunday magazine (“The Brain on the Stand”), which considered some of the ways that contemporary neuroscience could be used in our legal system to neurologically determine truth from falsehood, or guilt from innocence. The article stated, quite correctly, that it should soon be possible to reconstruct a brain’s historic involvement in a past criminal event, or at least to query a subject in a way that the brain’s lying or truth-telling about it would be unequivocally documented. Th... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=552125 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 15:15:41 +0100 552125 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=547003&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F16%2Fanother-factor-contributing-to-ptsd-onset-the-number-of-traumatic-events%2F A scientific friend and colleague, Professor Thomas Elbert from Konstanz University in Germany, has had a long interest in applying “simple” treatments to individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs). With his wife Maggie and others, he has developed and applied such treatments to war victims, primarily in Africa and Sri Lanka. There, literally millions of individuals have endured great personal losses and multiple horrifying experiences. If and when these individuals are resettled back to their homes in Uganda or Liberia or Sierra Leone or Rwanda or Sudan or the Congo Republic or wherever, it is not enough to take away the gun from the child soldier, or to give the adults a few tools and household goods and farm animals and send them back to their farms and vill... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=547003 Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:18:01 +0100 547003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=547005&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F16%2Fhow-can-the-same-brain-plasticity-based-training-programs-help-individuals-with-cognitive-losses-arising-from-normal-aging-exposure-to-ied-explosions-or-chemotherapy%2F Over the past two weeks, I have specifically discussed the potential value of intensive brain plasticity-based brain fitness training for individuals with ALL of these (and other, related) personal histories. How in the heck can “one size fit all”? How on earth can the losses in mental faculties stemming from an explosion of little bubbles in the brain accompanying an IED blast be related to those derived from a slow, deliberate chemical poisoning of regenerative processes in the brain designed to limit the proliferation of cancerous tissues that are usually not even IN the brain, or to the normal deterioration of the fabric of the brain that accompanies getting older? Understanding the nature of the basic neurological processes that account for how the brain encodes and “represents�... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=547005 Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:26:33 +0100 547005 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=539640&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F12%2Fa-shock-wave-of-brain-injuries%2F That was the headline in a Washington Post article written by Ronald Glasser, published on Sunday, April 8, 2007. It reported a rather astounding statistic that applies to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: About 30% of soldiers in those conflicts have been directly exposed to IED or other powerful explosions. That exposure has resulted in diffuse physical trauma to their brains. To paraphrase Mr. Glasser, detonation of any powerful explosive generates a blast wave of high pressure that spreads out at about twice the speed of sound away from the explosion, and travels with great force over hundreds of yards. The initial shock wave physically “rattles” the brain within the skull; the huge volume of displaced air flooding back into the area of the explosion generates a s... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=539640 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 21:03:27 +0100 539640 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=539642&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F12%2Fmy-own-experiences-at-brain-fitness-exercises%2F I just completed session 31 (of 40) of Posit Science’s Brain Fitness Program v. 2.0 this morning. Because I have been working on the development of these exercises over the past several years, I’ve spent many an hour hunched over my computer “trying to get the answer right” on model training programs!! My current goal is to make brain fitness training part of my regular daily routine. I have another several months of model programs lined up after I complete the BFP. I’m already pretty addicted to my daily time spent in the “brain fitness center”, and am looking forward to these visual-skills, attention-skills and executive-skills training programs with considerable anticipation. A key is to put the necessary time for exercise onto your schedule in... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=539642 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:31:46 +0100 539642 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=523833&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F05%2Fbrain-plasticity-based-cognitive-training-elevates-bdnf%2F Serum BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophin factor) has been repeatedly shown to be lower than normal in schizophrenic, bipolar and depressed patient populations. Moreover, the severity of manias or depression have been shown to be inversely correlated with serum BDNF. This key brain trophic factor plays a complicated panoply of roles in brain development, in maintaining the metabolic status and transmitter production in neuronal populations, in protecting neuron populations, and in enabling brain plasticity processes. It is specifically released as a function of cortical or subcortical nucleus activity levels. At least in the cortex, its release is a function of the level of coordination of neural activities. In a presentation at the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research in Colorado... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=523833 Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:03:01 +0100 523833 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=520762&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F04%2F04%2Fwhy-science-can-be-confusing-just-another-example%2F This study DOES provide unequivocal evidence that new cell formation in the hippocampus is not REQUIRED for spatial learning. That is hardly surprising. The primary changes underlying learning involve an amplification of the strengths of just those connections (synapses) that contribute to a successful learning outcome. In most of the brain — including the cerebral cortex and the primary brain centers that support the cortex’s contributions to learning, cognition and memory control — there is little or no neurogenesis in adult brains. Nonetheless, the brain is, by its very nature, a plastic (LEARNING) machine, and the cortex is crucially involved in all memory-guided learning! It learns through changing synaptic weights (strengthening synapses that are engaged in a good &... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=520762 Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:06:02 +0100 520762 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=513155&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F03%2F29%2Fmarch-28-a-recommended-book-about-neuro-plasticity%2F The Brain That Changes Itself (2007) by Normal Doidge, M.D. This interesting just-published book chronicles some of the stories of the men and women who have ushered in the new “brain plasticity” revolution in neuroscience. As we repeatedly emphasize in this blog, the brain is no longer viewed by neuroscientists as a machine that is hard-wired early in early life, unable to adapt, and destined to “wear out” with age. This book attempts to document how scientists are unlocking the secrets of the powerful, lifelong, adaptability – or “plasticity” – of the brain, for the benefit of child and young-and-old adult populations. The implications for treating neurological disease, for addressing performance problems that arise in aging, and for making dramatic improvements in human ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=513155 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:25:35 +0100 513155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=513156&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F03%2F29%2Fmarch-26-for-chemobrain-et-alia-think-brain-fitness-training%2F If you have this personal history of cancer and chemo- or radiation-therapy, or know someone or are treating someone who has lived it, you might seriously consider enrolling (them) in a serious “brain fitness program”. That is ESPECIALLY the case if memory or other cognitive losses have been noted after either chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. Posit Science is now supporting a study that is designed to document improvements in cognitive function resulting from its “brain fitness training” strategy (see www.positscience.com) in chemotherapy-treated breast cancer survivors. While initial findings in this population are very encouraging, we’ll know more when this study is completed. On that date, results shall immediately appear in abbreviated form on this blog! Two more th... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=513156 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:23:27 +0100 513156 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=513158&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F03%2F29%2Fmarch-24-2007-a-triple-whammy%2F This study is special because it uses an analysis of cognitive ability and senility in identical twins. By this strategy, inherited and childhood rearing factors are ruled out from contributing to measured differences. The results: You’ve had cancer. You’re twice as likely to be significantly cognitively impaired. You’re twice as likely to be senile. Like I said, a triple whammy. ONE MORE POINT: People argue about whether or not Alzheimer’s incidences are on the rise. How can they NOT be, when many factors that affect the probability and the timing of AD onset are products of modern societies? Maybe that contributes to the explanation as to why it took Alois Alzheimer about 7 years to identify the handful of patients with the condition that bears this name! (Source: On the Brain... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=513158 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:18:34 +0100 513158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=513159&cid=t_116507_122_f&fid=35373&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmerzenich.positscience.com%2F2007%2F03%2F29%2Fmarch-24-welcome-informed-citizens-students-professionals%2F The goal of this blog is to educate ourselves (you, and me) about the brain science underlying brain health. We shall have something to say, almost every day, on three grand subjects. First, this shall be a “No Spin Zone” on the subject of brain fitness. We’ll discuss discoveries and claims that inform us about the neurology and psychology of normal and pathological aging – and just what in hell we might do about it! One special focus of our discussion shall be the rapidly growing science of “neuroplasticity” — that remarkable capacity of the brain to change (IMPROVE) itself, at any age. We’ll do a little debunking now and again, but our main goal is to be positively HELPFUL – to guide you (or the clients that you to better strategies to maximize your brain fitness, ... On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=513159 Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:11:03 +0100 513159