Blog Profile / Brain Blogger
| URL : | http://brainblogger.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Neuroscience | |
| Posts on Regator: | 537 | |
| Posts / Week: | 2.4 | |
| Archived Since: | January 19, 2009 | |
Blog Post Archive
Motivation for Mental Health Care – All it Takes is a Phone Call
Combat experience during military conflicts places service members at considerable risk for social and mental health disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, impaired social functioning, and decreased occupational functioning. Show More Summary
IOM Confronts America About Wasteful Health Care Spending
The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. That is exactly what happened earlier this month when the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a consensus report concluding that in 2009, roughly 30% ($765 billion) of health care spending was wasted on unnecessary treatments and various other useless costs. Overspending of this [...]
What is Creativity? Art as a Symptom of Brain Disease
We don’t normally associate creativity with brain disease, but a recent paper published in Brain suggests that maybe we should. When we think of someone affected by a serious brain disorder, we imagine deterioration and loss of function, but a surprising new study shows that some people may actually develop artistic talent as a result [...]
School Supplies Harmful to Kids’ Health
Fall is in the air and parents across the United States are busy buying new backpacks, sharpening pencils, and packing lunch boxes in an effort to give their kids every bit of help, confidence, and encouragement during back-to-school time. But, a new study reveals that the school supplies parents buy may actually harm their children’s [...]
Light at Night, Depressed at Day
William Shakespeare once referred to stars as blessed candles of the night. I doubt that a modern interpretation of his “The Merchant of Venice” would so eloquently refer to televisions, computer screens, and nightlights that now illuminate what should be our darkest hours. And — alas — a new study finds that artificial light at [...]
Cord Blood-Derived Stem Cells – a New Therapeutic Option for Brain Disorders?
Stem cell technology has the potential to revolutionize medicine, but the revolution has been considerably slower than expected. Government restrictions and ethical dilemmas have put up roadblocks to fast-paced biological research, and even when these roadblocks are absent, controlling the behavior of stem cells (cells that have the ability to form a number of cell [...]
The Neuroscience of Belonging
The brain has evolved to respond in predictable ways to threats in the physical environment. Similarly, the brain is attuned to identify and reinforce behaviours that benefit our survival. These threat and reward-related circuits are well described. For example the amygdala, the most well studies threat-related brain region, responds to universally threatening stimuli such as [...]
Vaccine for Parkinson’s Disease Enters Phase 1 Clinical Trial
The word “vaccination” generally brings to mind the prevention of infectious disease. However, significant advances have recently been made in the field of therapeutic vaccination for the treatment of chronic human disorders including neurological conditions and cancer. Simply put, a vaccine is a mixture of compounds (most often proteins) that are selected for their ability [...]
Do Donuts Cause Depression?
Before you dunk that next donut, you may want to consider the results of a new study. More junk food leads to an increased risk of depression, according to the authors. The study, published in Public Health Nutrition, evaluated the eating habits of nearly 9000 Spanish adults, as well as their mental health. Overall, the [...]
Does HIV Make the Brain Old Before Its Time?
Approximately 10% of HIV-positive individuals develop profound memory loss, cognitive problems and severe depression. This HIV-associated dementia closely mimics dementia typically seen in the elderly, who are decades older than the individuals most commonly infected with HIV. What makes the brains of these young people act old before their time? The answer may lie in [...]
How Does the Brain Recover After Stroke?
People who have suffered traumatic brain injury or stroke often have serious, immediate deficits in motor, sensory, and cognitive function. Interestingly however, these functions often recover in the following weeks and months, without apparent reason. Show More Summary
Baby, You Can Drive My Car
French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery once claimed that love did not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. Based on a new study, he could have come to this realization while he and his wife were commuting to work. A recent study of couples in Hong Kong [...]
The Human Condition and the Mentally Ill
There are benefits to viewing the problem of psychosis from a variety of psychological and philosophical perspectives. In this article, several perspectives in psychology represent various useful angles with which to approach the problem of psychosis. Show More Summary
Interview with the Woman who Changed her Brain
Barbara Arrowsmith-Young life’s work has been a quest to develop programs that use the principles of neuroplasticity to strengthen underlying cognitive functions in the brain that impact learning. Today she can assess, and has programs to strengthen, 19 cognitive areas of potential learning dysfunction. In her book, The Woman Who Changed Her Brain: Stories of [...]
An A Priori Assumption – Construction of Reality
An a priori assumption that is non-epistemological, one of the assertion that one knows nothing, does not preclude a circuitous path toward a non-epistemological conclusion that one knows nothing. Similar to an infant, whose task is to shape the world, to shape reality, without a basis of knowledge except for his sensory perceptions, one must [...]
Degenerative Diseases Of The Brain – New Therapies
Late onset diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are degenerative as well as progressive and thereby diminish the quality of life of patients significantly. At present,...Show More Summary
Protect your Brain from Ageing with Plant Polyphenols
Ageing is only second to obesity as a health concern of global proportions. Ageing is essentially the diminished capacity of our internal systems to repair themselves which correlates with the number of years we count. How does ageing relate to brain and mental abilities? Ageing and stress reduce the rate of production of new brain [...]
Cannabis and the Adolescent Brain
For some time, people have known that using cannabis during adolescence increases the risk of developing cognitive impairment and mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety or schizophrenia) later in life. Importantly however, the mechanisms responsible for this vulnerability are not well understood. Show More Summary
Building Character Strengths – The Road to Wellbeing?
When we describe a friend or acquaintance, we often assess their personality disposition, describing him or her as introverted, easygoing, or friendly. These personality traits are usually stable over time and result in specific behaviors in an individual. Show More Summary
Learn It With Your Eyes Closed
Wish you could learn a musical instrument but have too little time? Only in your dreams, you say? Well, you’re in luck. Recent findings show you can learn it in your sleep. A team of researchers at Northwestern University has now demonstrated that learning to play a simple melody can be fine-tuned by listening to [...]