BrainBlog

Werz MA, Schoenberg MR, Meador KJ, Loring DW, Ray PG, Kaul-Gupta R, & Ogrocki P. Subjective preference for lamotrigine or topiramate in healthy volunteers: Relationship to cognitive and behavioral functioning. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2005 Dec 21; [Epub ahead of print]. Department of Neurology, University Hospitals of Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA. OBJECTIVE: Outcomes research emphasizes patient self-assessment and preferences in optimizing treatment. We previously showed that lamotrigine produces significantly less cognitive and behavioral impairment compared with topiramate. In the current study we extend these observations to subject self-report of preference for lamotrigine or topiramate independent of potentially confounding effects of seizures or seizure control. Additionally, drug preference was related to effects of lamotrigine and topiramate on objective neuropsychological tests as well as self-perception on behavior...

Jackman AH & Doty RL. Utility of a three-item smell identification test in detecting olfactory dysfunction. Laryngoscope. 2005 Dec; 115(12): 2209-2212.   From the Smell and Taste Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. OBJECTIVE:: Physicians rarely assess smell function, largely because of time considerations. Therefore, there is clinical need for very brief cranial nerve I screening tests. Although a few such tests exist, none have been adequately validated. The goal of this study was to empirically assess the utility of a three-item microencapsulated odor identification test in detecting olfactory dysfunction. SETTING:: Smell and taste center at a university medical center. METHODS:: The test was administered to 224 consecutive patients (98 men and 126 women ranging in age from 15-88 years). As part of their overall assessment, the well-validated 40-item University of Pennsy...

Untitled Theater Company #61 explores the nexus of science and art in NEUROfest, the first-ever theater festival dedicated to neurological conditions. NEUROfest 5-29 January 2006 Theater 5 311 West 43rd Street, 5th floor Additional info: NEUROfest homepage A collection of theater artists from around the country will present work inspired by various neurological conditions, including: Amnesia (Korsakov's Syndrome), Aphasia, Autism, Capgras Syndrome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), Dementia, Meniere's Disease, Synesthesia, and Tourette's Syndrome. Taken from an e-mailed release, here is the program: CJD Written and Directed by James Jordan The Boondogglers Condition dealt with: Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (a relative of Mad Cow) A multimedia one man show written and performed by a neurologist about his experience with a patient with CJD, augmented with live music performance. IMPOSTERS by Justin Warner Directed by Ari Laura Keith Glass House Productions Condition dealt ...

The December issue of Postgraduate Medicine includes a series of articles on the topic of current epilepsy management. These articles can be accessed from the issue's table-of-contents page . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Nakai T, Kato C, & Matsuo K. An FMRI study to investigate auditory attention: A model of the cocktail party phenomenon. Magnetic Resonance Medical Science. 2005; 4(2): 75-82. Functional Brain Imaging Laboratory, Department of Gerontechnology, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology. In human life, discrimination of a target voice from other voices or sounds is indispensable, and inability for such discrimination results in sensory aphasia. To investigate the neuronal basis of the attentional system for human voices, we evaluated brain activity during listening comprehension tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3T. Diotic listening comprehension tasks, in which a narration was superimposed by another given by the same speaker (SV experiment) or by a different speaker (DV experiment), were presented to normal volunteers. The story indicated in the baseline task blocks, in which only one narration was presented, was intensively followed during the super...

From the BBC, a report about a recent research study published in the journal Neuron : 'Jekyll and Hyde' dementia clue BBC 10 December 2005 [snip] In the study, the researchers "switched on" p25 at will in the brain's learning and memory centre, the hippocampus. In these mice, they found that switching on p25 for only two weeks boosted learning and memory compared to normal mice. But if the p25 was switched on for six weeks, mice displayed impaired learning and memory in tests. Physiological studies showed that these mice showed significant brain damage and lost nerve cells in the hippocampus. But those who had elevated p25 levels for just two weeks had no such effects. The researchers concluded that short-term production of p25 boosts learning - but long term exposure affects the ability to form new memories. The researchers, led by Dr Li-Huei Tsai, say the study suggested that the protein was normally beneficial, helping form memories and enable learning. B...

Mikkola K, Ritari N, Tommiska V, Salokorpi T, Lehtonen L, Tammela O, Paakkonen L, Olsen P, Korkman M, & Fellman V. Neurodevelopmental outcome at 5 years of age of a national cohort of extremely low birth weight infants who were born in 1996-1997. Pediatrics. 2005 Dec; 116(6): 1391-1400. Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. OBJECTIVE: Increasing survival of extremely low birth weight (ELBW; birth weight PMID: 16322163 [PubMed - in process] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From an NIH press release earlier today: NIDCD-funded Researchers Find Missing "Piece of the Pie" in Understanding Taste Scientists funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health, are a step closer to unraveling the mystery of taste. In a study published in the December 2, 2005, issue of Science, researchers have pinpointed the chemical responsible for transmitting signals from the taste buds — small sensory bumps on the tongue, throat, and roof of the mouth — to the taste nerves leading to the brain. Today’s findings provide scientists with a more complete picture of this complicated process, helping advance the study of taste and taste disorders. “People with taste disorders might not be able to enjoy the fun of eating and are at risk for other health pr...

Thomas P, Lalloue F, Preux PM, Hazif-Thomas C, Pariel S, Inscale R, Belmin J, & Clement JP. Dementia patients caregivers quality of life: The PIXEL study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2005 Dec 2; [Epub ahead of print] University Department of Psychogeriatrics & Memory Clinic CH Limoges, France. BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease and related syndromes have heavy social and human consequences for the patient and his family. Beyond the neuropsychiatric effects of specific therapies for dementia, one of today's challenges is the quality of life for both patients and their informal caregivers. OBJECTIVES: This survey tends to determine parameters influencing caregivers' quality of life, and its possible link with patients' quality of life. METHODS: A scale measuring caregivers' quality of life, developed from data from previous PIXEL studies was used. It is a questionnaire composed of 20 items. The scale was related to the socio-demographic data...

Briefing Information for the FDA's psychopharmacologic drugs advisory committee meeting on Friday. - Anthony H. Risser neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain | ADHD

THURSDAY: From The Washington Post website: Problem Found With Potential ADHD Patch The Associated Press Thursday, December 1, 2005; 3:01 PM WASHINGTON -- A patch developed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children received a negative review from a Food and Drug Administration scientist, who concluded the drug cannot be safely marketed. The patch uses methylphenidate, the same drug that is in Ritalin. But FDA reviewer Dr. Robert Levin found the patch produces troubling side effects too often to be considered safe. His findings were in briefing documents released by the agency on Thursday in advance of a public meeting on the drug. The reviewer's findings are not the final word. An independent panel of experts convened by the FDA is expected to consider on Friday whether the patch is effective and safe. The FDA has the final call on whether the patch can be made available, but the agency often follows the advice of its panels. The patch, developed by Noven Pharm...

From the December issue of The APA Monitor : Feed the birds Songbird study offers new insights into how malnutrition impairs development and cognition By Rachel Adelson The APA Monitor December 2005 Print version: page 16 Slim postpartum pickings for young birds may stunt their brain growth and impede their ability to later remember where they store food. In fact, early deprivation may send adult birds into a downward spiral and thwart their survival, according to new research by Vladimir Pravosudov, PhD, of the University of Nevada, Reno, and Pierre Lavenex, PhD, and Alicja Omanska, PhD, of the University of California, Davis. They studied the impact of early malnutrition on the western scrub-jay, a long-tailed, blue-feathered songbird. They underfed scrub-jay chicks. Then a year later, when these scrawny chicks grew up, they were worse off as adults than birds who ate better when young–even though the experimental group had caught up by then in weight. The experimental birds had smal...

Northwestern University's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center has a helpful overview of PPA online here: PPA Handbook . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From an NIH press release from earlier today: Study Links Progressive Aphasia Syndrome to Prion Gene Most people with a rare type of dementia called primary progressive aphasia (PPA) have a specific combination of prion gene variants, a new study shows. The study is the first to link the prion protein gene to this disorder. It was funded in part by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and appears in the December 2005 issue of the Annals of Neurology. The researchers, led by James A. Mastrianni, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Chicago , also looked at the prion protein gene in people with Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and did not find any association with specific gene variants in those disorders. PPA is classified as a type of frontotemporal dementia because of the pattern of brain degenerat...

The N=1: Population of One blog discusses and points to an upcoming academic workshop about HCI and cognitive factors related to faces: Read the post . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Csernansky JG, Wang L, Miller JP, Galvin JE, & Morris JC. Neuroanatomical predictors of response to donepezil therapy in patients with dementia. Archives of Neurology. 2005 Nov; 62(11): 1718-1722. Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. BACKGROUND: Patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) respond variably to treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether measures of hippocampal volume and shape predict the response to donepezil in patients with DAT. DESIGN: T1-weighted, magnetic resonance images were obtained from patients with DAT, who subsequently underwent treatment with donepezil. Brain-mapping algorithms were used to quantify hippocampal volume and shape, and growth curves were used to estimate clinical outcome. SETTING: A referral outpatient center specializing in treatment of dementia. PATIENTS: Thirty-seven patients with very mild or...

Henry JD, Beatty WW. Verbal fluency deficits in multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychologia. 2005 Nov 14; [Epub ahead of print] School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. A quantitative review of 35 studies with 3673 participants was conducted to estimate and compare the magnitude of deficits upon tests of phonemic and semantic fluency for participants with multiple sclerosis (MS) relative to healthy controls. Participants with MS were substantially but similarly impaired on tests of phonemic and semantic fluency. These deficits were larger than deficits on measures of verbal intelligence, confrontation naming and another widely used measure of executive functioning, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, but were of a comparable or smaller magnitude relative to deficits on the oral version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). This is consistent with other research suggesting that measures of verbal fluency and the SDMT may be amongst the most sensitive ne...

From the AP : Elan Shares Jump As Tysabri to Get Review By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: November 18, 2005 Filed at 12:52 p.m. ET DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) -- Shares in Irish drug maker Elan Corp. PLC jumped Friday after U.S. regulators announced they would accelerate their review of a key suspended drug, Tysabri. On the Irish Stock Exchange in Dublin, Elan shares rose 4.4 percent to close at 9.24 euros ($10.81) amid renewed optimism about the multiple sclerosis-fighting drug. Elan is developing Tysabri in conjunction with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen Idec Inc. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday night it had granted Tysabri ''priority review'' status, which means that a decision on whether the drug can return to the U.S. market will be made within six months instead of the standard 10. [ ... Read the full article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscienc...

In the current issue of the British Medical Journal : Jennifer Glass, Krista L Lanctôt, Nathan Herrmann, Beth A Sproule, & Usoa E Busto. Sedative hypnotics in older people with insomnia: meta-analysis of risks and benefits. British Medical Journal ;  2005; 331: 1169. [doi:10.1136/bmj.38623.768588.47] [ ... Read the full article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Boing Boing posts about and links to an NPR report about Howard Dully's story. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From a company press release: Neurognostics: Nets Its First Distributor 11/17/2005 Milwaukee, WI, November 17, 2005 - Neurognostics, Inc., a Wisconsin company specializing in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) products and services, announced today that it chose Specified Imaging, a Louisiana-based distributor of medical imaging products, as its first distributor of the MindState (TM) product line . [ ... Read the full press release ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Lutz MT & Helmstaedter C. EpiTrack: Tracking cognitive side effects of medication on attention and executive functions in patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy and Behavior, 2005 Oct 30; [Epub ahead of print]. Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. RATIONALE: Achievement of maximum seizure control with preservation or even improvement of patient's cognitive capabilities is the major aim of epilepsy therapy. EpiTrack is a brief screening tool for the tracking of cognitive side effects of antiepileptic drugs. Test selection was based on recent studies on the effects of topiramate on cognition and retrospective inspection of results from patients with antiepileptic drug (AED) side effects. METHODS: The 15-minute screening tool comprises six subtests: the Trail-Making Test (parts A and B), a test of response inhibition, digit span backward, written word fluency, and a maze test. These tests were standardized in 220 healthy subjects, 100 of whom were reevaluate...

Save a couple of steps and a little time in your lit searches by making use of the new RSS feed options on PubMed. Details are provided from the homepage . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From The New York Times : Young, Assured and Playing Pharmacist to Friends By AMY HARMON Published: November 16, 2005 The New York Times [snip] For a sizable group of people in their 20's and 30's, deciding on their own what drugs to take - in particular, stimulants, antidepressants and other psychiatric medications - is becoming the norm. Confident of their abilities and often skeptical of psychiatrists' expertise, they choose to rely on their own research and each other's experience in treating problems like depression, fatigue, anxiety or a lack of concentration. A medical degree, in their view, is useful, but not essential, and certainly not sufficient. They trade unused prescription drugs, get medications without prescriptions from the Internet and, in some cases, lie to doctors to obtain medications that in their judgment they need. [ ... Read the full article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From a Salk Institute for Biological Studies press release : Released: Fri 11-Nov-2005, 08:55 ET  Embargo expired: Mon 14-Nov-2005, 17:00 ET    3-D Structure of Alzheimer's Disease Filament Shows How It Zips Up Peptides Newswise — Researchers have solved the three dimensional structure of the long thread-like fibers that fill the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. The structure reveals the proteins that make up the fibrils lock onto each other much like a zipper on a jacket. This advance, reported in the Nov. 14th early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), helps illuminate the molecular roots of Alzheimer's and possibly other degenerative diseases of the brain. “Now that we understand at an atomic level how these fibrils form, it might help researchers develop a biomarker test to diagnose Alzheimer's disease at an early stage, as well as drugs to treat it,” says the study's lead investigator, Salk Institute for Biological S...

A new neuroscience blog: Action Potential . Best wishes! - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

The November issue of The APA Monitor includes a short piece about a recent talk by Dr. Lynn Nadel discussing advances in research related to the hippocampus and memory: Why we can't remember when... The hippocampus's role in memory may help explain why we cannot remember our early childhood, and why stress affects our memory later in life. By LEA WINERMAN APA Monitor November 2005 Print version: page 36 [ ... Read the article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Thank you, Mind Hacks , for listing this blog as among the set of essential websites for students. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From The New York Times : The Pablo Picasso Alzheimer's Therapy By RANDY KENNEDY The New York Times Published: October 30, 2005 SITTING the other day in front of Picasso's rapturous "Girl Before a Mirror" at the Museum of Modern Art, Rueben Rosen wore the dyspeptic look of a man with little love for modern art. But the reason he gave for disliking the painting was not one you might expect to hear from an 88-year-old former real estate broker. Xanthe Alban-Davies discusses Picasso's "Girl Before a Mirror" with, from left, Rueben Rosen, Irene Brenton and Sheila Barnes at the Museum of Modern Art. "It's like he's trying to tell a story using words that don't exist," Mr. Rosen said. "It's like he's trying to tell a story using words that don't exist," Mr. Rosen said finally of Picasso, fixing the painter's work with a critic's stare. "He knows what he means, but we don't." This chasm of unders...

Pandemic-Flu (H5N1, Avian Influenza, "Bird Flu") Educational References Here is an updated version of the reference set that I will episodically post here: Background and historical references: Barry, John M. (2004). The great influenza . NY: Viking. [comment: A very readable account of what happened and why in the 1918 pandemic, with an emphasis on the political expediences and cronyism of the day and media complacency - along with accounts of the public-health leaders who needed to fight not only the virus, but politicians and newspaper editors in order to eke out ways of dealing with the virus. Also, a good description of how this type of influenza differs from the typical, yearly bouts of influenza that most all of us are aware of.] Department of Health and Human Services (2004). Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan [Executive Summary - Draft August 2004]. Garrett, L. (2005). The next pandemic? Foreign Affairs, July/August issue. Link Gibbs, W.W. & Soa...

From The City University of New York (CUNY) website: Visual Art & the Brain: At the Interface of Art and Science DATE - November 5, 2005 TIME - 10am-6pm COLLEGE NAME - Graduate Center ADDRESS - 365 Fifth Ave @ 34th St PHONE - 212/817-8215 DESCRIPTION "This conference will explore the nature of the science-art interface, the inspiration this interface provides to scientists and artists alike, and the impact of such interactions on areas of research and other human endeavors. The morning session will explore scientific perspectives: What is vision? How do we perceive art and why do we respond to it emotionally? The afternoon session will focus on the interface of art and science, and will feature discussions with artists and scientists on communicating the beauty and power of science as well as its social and ethical implications. This event is suitable for scientists interested in art, and arti...

Boing Boing posts today about a "geeky card game" that seems to call for a good dose of healthy frontal lobe functioning. The game is called "Set." Read the posting here . (Another Boing Boing post today is about an online atlas of the monkey brain.) - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

A core contemporary issue in the clinical neurology and neuropsychology of aging and dementia is discussed in an article in tomorrow's New York Times : Predicting Alzheimer's Is More Wish Than Reality By LAURIE TARKAN The New York Times Published: October 25, 2005 Read the article - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From a company press release: Synthetic Blood Announces Positive Results from Traumatic Brain Injury Preclinical Study COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2005-- Synthetic Blood International, Inc. (OTCBB:SYBD) today announced that study data suggest that its proprietary perfluorocarbon (PFC) blood substitute and therapeutic oxygen carrier Oxycyte(TM) improves cognitive recovery following traumatic brain injury in a fluid percussion injury model, a widely accepted rat model that simulates moderate head injury with prolonged cognitive deficits sustained in humans. Cognitive recovery was determined by performance in a standard water maze test. As announced previously, Synthetic Blood plans to initiate a Phase II proof-of-concept study to evaluate the safety and biological effects of Oxycyte in patients with traumatic brain injury. In the study "Perfluorocarbon Emulsion Improves Cognitive Recovery Following Lateral Fluid Percussion Brain Injury in ...

The November 2005 issue of Scientific American includes an article by Carl Zimmer , The Neurobiology of the Self. Update 26 October 2005 - Carl Zimmer has placed a link to a .pdf version of this article on his blog . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From sfgate.com: Trials for stem-cell treatment of brain disease Clinical testing set to begin on kids with fatal affliction Cornelia Stolze, Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Staff Writers San Francisco Chronicle Friday, October 21, 2005 Researchers in California are about to start the first FDA-sanctioned clinical trial of a stem cell treatment for a brain disease. The trial will offer regulators one of their first opportunities to reveal what standards should apply for novel "regenerative medicine" experiments in human subjects. Special safety concerns include the long-term cancer-causing potential of stem cells and the risk that they may wire into the brain's circuitry improperly. "A great deal of attention will be paid to the outcome of this trial," said Dr. Arnold Kriegstein, a neurologist and head of a stem cell program at UCSF , who is not involved in the new study. "It really represents the first trial of its kind. Regardless of the outc...

The Neurodudes have opened an interesting discussion on their blog about knowledge management software for neuroscientists: Neurodude post . Thanks for the good info! - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

The Parkinson Disease event presented by the NIH, which I noted here earlier [ BrainBlog post on 11 October 2005 ] was broadcast live today on C-SPAN: Advances in Parkinson's Disease . Check the C-SPAN website for any reairing dates and times. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

This week's issue of the British Medical Journal includes a news report about the Meeting of Minds project funded by the European Commission, "in which a group of 126 citizens from nine countries has been meeting over the last 18 months to consider the implications of developments in brain science." Read the full article - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From The Arizona Republic : Fading memory Forgetfulness and compensating for it are part of life Mary Beth Faller The Arizona Republic Oct. 18, 2005 12:00 AM Aaron P. Nelson and his family were driving on their vacation and were about 50 miles from their home in Massachusetts. They realized they had forgotten their child's beloved blanket, and drove back home to retrieve it. When they got home, they found that they had left a set of keys in the ignition of their other car - with the engine running. That's a doozy of a memory lapse, and Nelson should know. He's the chief of neuropsychology in the division of cognitive and behavioral neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and also a professor at Harvard Medical School. As a memory expert, he knows that even an embarrassing incident like that does not mean Alzheimer's disease is imminent. But many people worry about that when they start to forget things. Many of his patients, especially those in their 4...

From tomorrow's New York Times : Can Brain Scans See Depression? By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: October 18, 2005 They seem almost alive: snapshots of the living human brain. Not long ago, scientists predicted that these images, produced by sophisticated brain-scanning techniques, would help cut through the mystery of mental illness , revealing clear brain abnormalities and allowing doctors to better diagnose and treat a wide variety of disorders. And nearly every week, it seems, imaging researchers announce another finding, a potential key to understanding depression , attention deficit disorder, anxiety. Yet for a variety of reasons, the hopes and claims for brain imaging in psychiatry have far outpaced the science, experts say. After almost 30 years, researchers have not developed any standardized tool for diagnosing or treating psychiatric disorders based on imaging studies. [ ... Read the full article. ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsych...

Read an interview with Dr. Don Dansereau by Cliff Atkinson on the topic of what the cognitive psychologist terms "map shock." - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Sticking with the confabulation theme, here are some of the most recent publications on the topic: Schnider A, Bonvallat J, Emond H, & Leemann B. Reality confusion in spontaneous confabulation. Neurology. 2005 Oct 11; 65(7): 1117-1119. PMID: 16217071 [PubMed - in process] Fujii T, Suzuki M, Suzuki K, Ohtake H, Tsukiura T, & Miura R. Normal memory and no confabulation after extensive damage to the orbitofrontal cortex. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. 2005 Sep; 76(9): 1309-1310. PMID: 16107380 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Moulin CJ, Conway MA, Thompson RG, James N, & Jones RW. Disordered memory awareness: recollective confabulation in two cases of persistent deja vecu. Neuropsychologia. 2005; 43(9): 1362-1378. PMID: 15949520 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Hecht-Nielsen R. Cogent confabulation. Neural Networks. 2005 Mar; 18(2): 111-115. Epub 2005 Jan 18. PMID: 15795109 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Nys GM, van Zandvoort MJ, Roks G, Kappelle LJ, de Ko...

Mind Hacks continues its good work of updating readers about its favorite radio show, Australia's All in the Mind . This week, it blogs that the show was about the fascinating topic of confabulation . Their report includes links to the audiostream and the podcast for the show. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

The new, 13 October 2005 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine includes a series of free full-content-downloard perspective pieces on the health-care experience of Hurricane Katrina. It also includes a research article and an editorial commentary on a treatment for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in neonates. The research article is S. Shankaran et al. Whole-body hypothermia for neonates with hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy [ Abstract ]. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

According to an NIH press release , Dr. Daniel Weinberger will be speaking tomorrow on a live webcast on the topic, Complex Genetics in the Human Brain: Lessons from COMT, tomorrow from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET at http://videocast.nih.gov . The talk may be viewed live or at a later time. The NIH page streams via RealPlayer . According to the press release: "Weinberger will explain why such psychiatric genetics has proven to be a daunting challenge, using as an example the gene that codes for catecho-O-methyltransferase (COMT), the enzyme that breaks down the chemical messenger dopamine. A tiny variation in its sequence results in different versions of the gene. One leads to more efficient functioning of the prefrontal cortex, the other to less efficient prefrontal functioning and slightly increased risk for schizophrenia." - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

A press release from the NIH: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 CONTACT: Margo Warren 301-496-5751 Science Reporters Briefing: New Advances in Parkinson’s Research and Treatment What: The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in partnership with the Parkinson’s community is bringing together a panel of leading physicians, scientists, and caregivers to provide an overview of the newest advances in Parkinson’s disease. Researchers will discuss genetic aspects of the disease, new approaches to therapeutics, and environmental and other factors that may impact onset of Parkinson’s. Panelists will discuss their work and respond to questions from the audience. Why: After Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s is the most common neurodegenerative disorder. There are an estimated 6.3 million people...

On the 4th of November, the opening of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology takes place. A day-long celebration is scheduled. According to the website: "The McGovern Institute is conducting interdisciplinary research that combines and extends the results of recent breakthroughs in three major, interrelated areas: systems and computational neuroscience, imaging and cognitive neuroscience, and genetic and cellular neuroscience. Fundamental studies in genetics and cell biology, live measurement of brain physiology in humans and other animals performing cognitive tasks, and modeling of brain function using advanced tools in biocomputation and cognitive sciences -- such research will lay a foundation for a comprehensive description of the brain, including how it learns and communicates. " - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Here is an update of the references I posted last week during Pandemic Flu Awareness Week : Background and historical references: Barry, John M. (2004). The great influenza . NY: Viking. [comment: A very readable account of what happened and why in the 1918 pandemic, with an emphasis on the political expediences and cronyism of the day and media complacency - along with accounts of the public-health leaders who needed to fight not only the virus, but politicians and newspaper editors in order to eke out ways of dealing with the virus. Also, a good description of how this type of influenza differs from the typical, yearly bouts of influenza that most all of us are aware of.] Department of Health and Human Services (2004). Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan [Executive Summary - Draft August 2004]. Garrett, L. (2005). The next pandemic? Foreign Affairs, July/August issue. Link National Intelligence Estimate (2000). The Global Infectious Disease Threat and Its Implication...