BrainBlog

risser_pic_31dec06_neuropsychology_tuscany Originally uploaded by rissera . Interesting piece in today's New York Times about music and the brain and work by Daniel Levitin [ link ]. Curious neuro readers are directed to some classical papers by Macdonald Critchley on this topic.

photograph by anthony risser, 1985 Originally uploaded by rissera . Dr. Arthur L. Benton, Neuropsychologist 1909-2006 Obituary printed in the Iowa City Press-Citizen: Friday, December 29, 2006 Arthur Benton, 97 Arthur Benton, beloved husband of the late Rita, died December 27, 2006 from complications of emphysema, in Glenview, Illinois. Loving father of Raymond Benton (Nina), Abigail Sivan (Milton Harris), and Daniel Benton (Nancy Hauserman). Devoted grandfather of Jeffrey Benton, Ori Sivan (Claudia Regojo), and Ofer Sivan (Amber Neville). Fond brother-in-law of Joan Rogers. He was born October 16, 1909 in New York City. Dr. Benton received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oberlin College and his Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University in 1935. He acquired his training as a psychologist at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic of New York Hospital. Early in 1941, Benton volunteered for service in the U.S. Navy and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the medical department. ...

risser_1985_DrBenton Originally uploaded by rissera . Dr. Arthur L. Benton, Neuropsychologist 1909-2006

The November 2006 issue [ link ] of the journal, Brain , celebrates the centenary of Dr. Alois Alzheimer and his case report. Among the issue's papers are a half-dozen ones with full-content free-access, including a good historical review and an overview of treatment.

Today's New York Times has an article about malnutrition. Two forms of malnutrition of global importance are marasmus and kwashiorkor. I often discuss them and their cognitive consequences whenever I write about developmental neuropsychology. Here is the Times article: Malnutrition Is Cheating Its Survivors, and Africa’s Future By MICHAEL WINES December 28, 2006 The New York Times SHIMIDER, Ethiopia — In this corrugated land of mahogany mountains and tan, parched valleys, it is hard to tell which is the greater scandal: the thousands of children malnutrition kills, or the thousands more it allows to survive. Malnutrition still kills here, though Ethiopia’s infamous famines are in abeyance. In Wag Hamra alone, the northern area that includes Shimider, at least 10,000 children under age 5 died last year, thousands of them from malnutrition-related causes. Yet almost half of Ethiopia’s children are malnourished, and most do not die. Some suffer a different fate. Robbed of vital nu...

There is a front-page article in today's New York Times concerning the current state of mental-gymnastic services: [ ... Read the full article ... ] (A very catchy lead sentence for the article!)

An FDA press release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE P06-211 December 20, 2006 Media Inquiries: Karen Riley, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA FDA Approves Novel Device That Prevents or Reduces Brain Damage in Infants The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved a first-of-a-kind medical device for the treatment of babies born with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a potentially fatal injury to the brain caused by low levels of oxygen.  The Olympic Cool-Cap system is designed to prevent or reduce damage to the brains of these patients by keeping the head cool while the body is maintained at a slightly below-normal temperature.   The Cool-Cap is manufactured by Olympic Medical Corporation, a subsidiary of Natus Medical Incorporated of San Carlos, Calif. “This approval brings new hope to parents of the approximately 5,000-9,000 babies each y...

From today's New York Times : New Chemical Is Said to Provide Early Sign of Alzheimer’s Disease By REUTERS The New York Times Published: December 21, 2006 chem Originally uploaded by rissera . A chemical designed by doctors in Los Angeles could give earlier signals of Alzheimer’s disease and provide a new way to test treatments, a study has shown. Currently, the only way to diagnose the disease is to remove brain tissue or to perform an autopsy. The new study, to be published today in the New England Journal of Medicine , is by doctors at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is part of a larger quest to find a better method to diagnose the condition using tracers that can be detected with a positron emission tomography, or PET, scan. The new chemical, called FDDNP, attaches to abnormal clumps of proteins called amyloid plaques and nerve cell tangles that develop in Alzheimer’s sufferers and inhibit messages being processed by the brain. In the study, Dr. Gary Sma...

Atchison TB, Massman PJ, & Doody RS. Baseline cognitive function predicts rate of decline in basic-care abilities of individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 2006 Dec 13; [Epub ahead of print]. Department of Psychology, Sociology, and Social Work, West Texas A&M University, Box 60296, Canyon, TX 79016-0001, United States. Decline in basic self-care abilities is an important risk factor for institutionalization in individuals with dementia. The ability to predict such decline would be of clinical importance in working with families of dementia patients. Research has suggested that cognitive decline may precede loss of functional capacity. This paper utilized a large sample of probable Alzheimer's disease patients (N=150) who were evaluated longitudinally to assess the pattern of neuropsychological functioning predictive of rapid decline in self-care. The findings indicated that despite initial equality of Lawton Physical ...

From an NIH press release: EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE Tuesday, December 19, 2006 4:00 PM ET NIA CONTACT: Susan Farrer or Linda Joy 301- 496-1752 NINR CONTACT: Lanny Newman 301-496-0209 Mental Exercise Helps Maintain Some Seniors’ Thinking Skills Certain mental exercises can offset some of the expected decline in older adults' thinking skills and show promise for maintaining cognitive abilities needed to do everyday tasks such as shopping, making meals and handling finances, according to a new study. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the Dec. 20, 2006, Journal of the American Medical Association , showed that some of the benefits of short-term cognitive training persisted for as long as five years. The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly , or ACTIVE, Study is the first randomized, controlled trial to demonstrate long-lasting, positive effects of brief cognitive training in older adults. However, testing indicated t...

An FDA Press Release: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE P06-208 December 20, 2006 Media Inquiries: Press Office, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA FDA Approves New Drug for Schizophrenia The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved Invega (paliperidone) extended-release tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia. Paliperidone is a new molecular entity, which means this medication contains an active substance that has never before been approved for marketing in any form in the United States. Paliperidone is the principal active metabolite of risperidone, a marketed drug for treating schizophrenia. "Schizophrenia can be a devastating illness requiring lifelong medication and professional counseling," said Douglas Throckmorton, MD, Deputy Director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Today's approval adds to the treatment options for patients with this condition." [ ... Read the full release ... ]

This is one of the more interesting research studies that I've read about over the past couple of months. Please open up the link to the full article to read all about it: From today's New York Times : In Memory-Bank ‘Dialogue,’ the Brain Is Talking to Itself By NICHOLAS WADE The New York Times December 18, 2006 New recordings of electrical activity in the brain may explain a major part of its function, including how it consolidates daily memories, why it needs to dream and how it constructs models of the world to guide behavior. The recordings capture dialogue between the hippocampus, where initial memories of the day’s events are formed, and the neocortex, the sheet of neurons on the outer surface of the brain that mediates conscious thought and contains long-term memories. Such a dialogue had been thought to exist, but no one had been able to eavesdrop on it successfully. The new insight has emerged from recordings of rat brains but is likely to occur in much the same way in...

First Online EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) Ph.D. Symposium: http://onlinesymposium.predocs.org/ 04-08 December 2006 Starts 0900 CET. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Streamed course lectures by Dr. Christof Koch of CalTech: http://www.klab.caltech.edu/cns120/videos.php - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Alzheimer programming in Iran: http://www.alzheimer.ir/ (Available in Farsi and in English). - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Zuidema SU, Derksen E, Verhey FR, & Koopmans RT. (2006). Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in a large sample of Dutch nursing home patients with dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry , Kalorama, Beek-Ubbergen, The Netherlands. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia patients in Dutch nursing homes. METHODS: Cross-sectional study in a large sample of 1322 demented patients living in 59 dementia special care units (SCUs) in The Netherlands. Symptoms were observed by licensed vocational nurses during regular care-giving in a 2-week observational period prior to assessment. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory- Nursing home version (NPI-NH; frequency X severity score >/= 4) and the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI; symptoms occurring at least once a week). RESULTS: More than 80% of these patients suffered from at least one clinically significant symptom, as defined with...