BrainBlog

I'm looking forward to reading this paper, to see how well the details mesh with this media account. For example, one has to look carefully are how subjects were labelled as "compulsive liars" and whether other behavioral characteristics might account for performance on the scale used to rate subjects. However, this is a curious association to ponder, to say the least. From The Los Angeles Times : Study: Adept Liars' Brains Are Built Differently By Robert Lee Hotz, Times Staff Writer The Los Angeles Times 30 September 2005 In the lexicon of lying, there are white lies and bare-faced lies. Facts can be fudged, forged or shaded. There are fibbers, fabricators and feckless fabulists. By whatever clinical term, the truth simply is not in some people. Now scientists have an anatomical inkling why. A new study from the University of Southern California, published in the October issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry , suggests that the talent for compulsive deception is...

Zack Lynch (Brain Waves) blogs about an analysis by Dr. Rashmi Sinha, "A cognitive analysis of tagging (Or how the lower cognitive cost of tagging makes it popular)" . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Psychometric data relevant to the use of common neuropsychological cognitive test instruments are presented and discussed in the current issue of the journal, The Clinical Neuropsychologist (Volume 19, Issue 3-4; September-December 2005). The issue deals with data collected as part of the Mayo's Older Americans Normative Studies (or "MOANS" for short). Specific attention is paid toward whether test performance is more closely related to general intellectual functioning than to years of formal education, an important concern in the use of this normative data set in understanding the performances by individuals. Here are the paper titles and their DOIs: Brett Steinberg and Linas Bieliauskas Introduction to the Special Edition: IQ-Based MOANS Norms for Multiple Neuropsychological Instruments pp. 277 - 279 DOI: 10.1080/13854040590948992 Brett A. Steinberg, Linas A. Bieliauskas, Glenn E. Smith, Christopher Langellotti, Robert J. Ivnik Mayo's Older Americans Normative Stud...

A press release from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE P05-65 September 29, 2005 Media Inquiries: Susan Cruzan, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Strattera (Atomoxetine) for Attention Deficit Disorder The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today is issuing a Public Health Advisory to alert physicians of reports of suicidal thinking in children and adolescents associated with Strattera, a drug approved to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). FDA has also directed Eli Lilly and Company, manufacturer of Strattera, to develop a Medication Guide for patients and caregivers. FDA is advising health care providers and caregivers that children and adolescents being treated with Strattera should be closely monitored for clinical worsening, as well as agitation, irritability, suicidal thinking or behaviors, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of the...

A daily read of the following blog has been, for me, one of several useful ways I have of keeing up with avian influenza events: H5N1 . Obvious additional resources include the World Health Organization (WHO) website section on the topic . - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain H5N1 | Avian Influenza

Of potential interest to all, including the broad neuroscience medical and scientific communities: The 29 September 2005 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine includes the full-text content of a review paper about Avian ("Bird Flu") Influenza [H5N1]. The Writing Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) Consultation on Human Influenza A/H5. Avian Influenza A (H5N1) infection in humans. The New England Journal of Medicine . 2005; 353: 1374-1385. [ ... Access the full text ... ] Abstract An unprecedented epizootic avian influenza A (H5N1) virus that is highly pathogenic has crossed the species barrier in Asia to cause many human fatalities and poses an increasing pandemic threat. This summary describes the features of human infection with influenza A (H5N1) and reviews recommendations for prevention and clinical management presented in part at the recent World Health Organization (WHO) Meeting on Case Management and Research on Human Influenza A/H5, which was ...

From The Daily Californian : Distractions Cause Memory Loss By OMEED ELBOUDWAREJ Contributing Writer Wednesday, September 28, 2005 UC Berkeley researchers have used brain imaging to confirm that, contrary to popular opinion, short-term memory loss common in older adults is not associated with a lack of focus on relevant information. Rather, short-term memory loss lies with an inability to filter out surrounding distractions. Although previous studies have used neuropsychological tests to investigate how aging changes memory patterns, this study is the among the first of its kind to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess the impact of normal aging on the enhancement and suppression of sensory processing in the brain. "The degree that older patients suppressed unnecessary information correlates with the degree that they remembered the relevant information," Adam Gazzaley, UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience, said. "So what we are seeing is that they h...

From The Scotsman : Alzheimer's set to take centre stage in TV soap LISA HAYNES 26 September 2005 HE'S always been the bolshy, confident character on the cobbles of Coronation Street, but this year Mike Baldwin's life is set to take a dramatic turn in the soap. The character, played by 70-year-old Johnny Briggs, is showing the first signs of Alzheimer's disease. Millions of viewers will watch as the bubbly factory boss becomes increasingly forgetful and goes into a gradual decline from the condition. While Mike puts his memory loss down to old age, in reality, dementia is a disease that affects more than 750,000 people in the UK - yet there is still a lot of ignorance about the symptoms and the help that can be offered. [ ... Read the full article ...] - Anthony H. Risser neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain | alzheimer disease

From an American Psychological Association (APA) press release on 25 September 2005: PSYCHOLOGISTS FIND MORE SENSITIVE TESTS FOR PREDICTING ALZHEIMER'S AS WELL AS SUBTLE CHANGES IN COGNITION Implicit-memory tests are stronger predictors than the common Mini Mental [Status] exam[ination; i.e., MMSE]; Alzheimer's may hurt attention well before obvious memory loss Washington — Two recent studies may help clinicians and researchers better predict and understand dementia of the Alzheimer's type early in its history.  Both studies appear in the September issue of Neuropsychology , which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).  Psychologists focus on early detection in part because current medications are useful only when given very early in the course of the disease.  [ ... Read the full press release ... ] The papers are: Pauline E.J. Spaan, PhD, Jeroen G.W. Raaijmakers, PhD, & Cees Jonker, PhD, MD. Early assessment of dementia:  The contributio...

This week's British Medical Journal includes a clinical review of status epilepticus: Matthew Walker. Status epilepticus: An evidence based guide. British Medical Journal. 2005; 331: 673-677 (24 September). [doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7518.673] [ ... Read the full article ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From Bloomberg via the New York Times : Move to Reinstate Multiple Sclerosis Drug Published: September 21, 2005 By Bloomberg News Biogen Idec Inc. and the Elan Corporation said yesterday that they would seek federal regulatory approval to resume sales of the withdrawn Tysabri drug for multiple sclerosis. A safety evaluation of the drug for use against Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis will be completed "in the coming weeks," the companies said in a joint statement. They said that they completed a safety evaluation of the drug for use in multiple sclerosis patients in August. Biogen, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., and Elan, which is based in Ireland, withdrew Tysabri from the market Feb. 28 after three patients developed a rare neurological disease. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

From the AP One of the 25 2005 MacArthur Foundation Fellows is "-- Lu Chen, 33, assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley . Chen's work with the synapse sheds light on the biology of learning and memory." [ ... Read the Full List ... ] - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Upcoming presentations at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience of the University of Pennsylvania: Talks: Fall 2005 NEW LOCATION: Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, 3401 Walnut Street, Suite 400A September 19, 2005, 12 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Zack Lynch, NeuroInsights Our Emerging Neurosociety: How Neurotechnology is Shaping Business, Politics and Culture October 17, 2005, 12 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Venkata S. Mattay, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH Modulating Signal to Noise in Cognitive and Emotional Informational Processing November 28, 2005, 12 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Michael J. Kahana, University of Pennsylvania The Temporal Context Model of Episodic Memory December 12, 2005, 12 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Jay McClelland, Carnegie Mellon University Do Lexical and Semantic Information Share a Common Neural Substrate - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

Isquith PK, Crawford JS, Espy KA, & Gioia GA. Assessment of executive function in preschool-aged children. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Review. 2005 Sep 13; 11(3): 209-215. Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire. Assessment of the overarching self-regulatory mechanisms, or executive functions, in any age group is challenging, in part due to the complexity of this domain, in part due to their dynamic essence, and in part due to the inextricable links between these central processes and the associated domain-specific processes, such as language, motor function, and attention, over which they preside. While much progress has been made in clinical assessment approaches for measuring executive functions in adults and to some extent in adolescents and school-aged children, the toolkit for the preschool evaluator remains sparse. The past decade, however, has seen a substantial increase...

Certainly not a comprehensive listing, however several resource webpages have become available: Displaced Neuropsychologists From an individual voluntary effort: www.displacedpsychologists.org Displaced Neurologists I could not track down a specific resource for neurologists. As a default, here is the American Medical Association (AMA) resources page: www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/15487.html Displaced Neuroscientists From the Society for Neuroscience (SfN): 198.6.70.41/archive/index.php/ Displaced Cancer Patients, Family Members, and Oncologists From the National Cancer Institute (NCI): www.cancer.gov/katrina Displaced College Students CampusRelief.org Displaced Medical Students From the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC): www.aamc.org/katrina.htm - Anthony H. Risser neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain | katrina | new orleans

From this week's British Medical Journal , the full-text of a clinical review concerning fetal MRI neuroimaging: Paul D Griffiths, Martyn N J Paley, Elysa Widjaja, Chris Taylor & Elspeth H Whitby. In utero magnetic resonance imaging for brain and spinal abnormalities in fetuses. British Medical Journal ; 2005, 331 (7516): 562-565. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

A press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NINDS Javits Award Goes to Six Inventive Neuroscientists 07 September 2005 [ ... Read the full release ... ] The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of the National Institutes of Health, has named six scientists to receive its prestigious Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences. The award is given to individual investigators who have demonstrated exceptional scientific excellence and productivity in research supported by the NINDS and who are expected to conduct innovative research over the next 7 years. Authorized by the Congress in 1983, the award honors the late U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits (R-NY), who was a strong advocate for research on a variety of neurological disorders. Senator Javits suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the disabling neuro...

The 01 September 2005 issue of the journal American Family Physician has an overview directed toward general practitioners, internists, and family-practice docs on the topic of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, explaining what they are, how they can be distinguished from epileptic seizure disorders, and treatment options. The paper is available in full-text content: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures by Taoufik M. Alsaadi and Anna Vinter Marquez. ( American Family Physician 2005; 72: 849-856.) Here is the abstract: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are episodes of movement, sensation, or behaviors that are similar to epileptic seizures but do not have a neurologic origin; rather, they are somatic manifestations of psychologic distress. Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures frequently are misdiagnosed and treated for epilepsy. Video-electroencephalog...

One of many recent news article over the past year about the application of functional neuroimaging technologies, this time in Wisconsin and with specific concern about the hippocampus and the hippocampal region and its relation to neuropsychological functioning: Haunting images: UW using brain scans to search for hints of Alzheimer's By JOHN FAUBER Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Last Updated: Sep. 4, 2005 Read the article - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain

If you are like me, then your knowledge of magnetoreception could fit on the head of a pin. There is a way to deal with that however. The current September 2005 issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience includes a full-text overview article on the topic : The Physics and Neurobiology of Magnetoreception by Drs. Sönke Johnsen and Kenneth J. Lohmann.  Enjoy. - Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain