BrainBlog

The excellent neuroblog, Mind Hacks , has a post today that includes discussion about a program of research examining the hippocampal structures of professional navigators (e.g., taxi drivers) - research with fascinating neuropsychological results. The Mind Hacks post can be read at: post . A link to a .pdf of one of these publications can be found at: London Taxi Drivers and Bus Drivers: A Structural MRI and Neuropsychological Analysis . I am off to read this paper right now, which was published in 2006 in the journal Hippocampus .

From The New York Times : Paul MacLean, 94, Neuroscientist Who Devised ‘Triune Brain’ Theory, Dies By JEREMY PEARCE Published: January 10, 2008 Dr. Paul D. MacLean, a neuroscientist and psychiatrist who developed the intriguing theory of the “triune brain” to explain its evolution and to try to reconcile rational human behavior with its more primal and violent side, died on Dec. 26 in Potomac, Md. He was 94. Dr. MacLean’s death was confirmed by his family. In the late 1940s, while he was a young researcher at Yale, Dr. MacLean became interested in the brain’s control of emotion and behavior. After initial studies of brain activity in epileptic patients, he turned to cats, monkeys and other models, using electrodes to stimulate different parts of the brain in conscious animals. He then recorded the animals’ responses and, in the 1950s, began to trace individual behaviors like aggression and sexual arousal to their physiological sources. Dr. MacLean (pronounced mac-LANE) termed the brai...

From yesterday's New York Times : Jump-Start on Slow Trek to Treatment for a Disease By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. Published: January 8, 2008 Last month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $19 million to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative to further one of its goals: finding a new drug for African sleeping sickness. Not that $19 million will come close to doing that. Even if a miracle cure is found, it will take lab work and clinical trials that could easily cost $100 million to prove it is really a miracle and not the Vioxx of the African savannah. But the gift spotlights just how tricky the search for new treatments can be when the disease is fearsome but nearly forgotten because its victims are poor and obscure. [ ... Read the full article ... ]

Today's abstract included mention of voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping. Here is a .pdf publication that outlines the technique: paper .

From the Times-Columnist : Symphony starts the year with 'bigger bag of tricks' PREVIEW What: Victoria Symphony with clarinetist Simon Aldrich When and Where: 7:30 p.m., Jan. 5 at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney; 2:30 p.m., Jan. 6 and 8 p.m., Jan. 7 at the Royal Theatre Tickets: For the Sidney concert, tickets are $26/29, available at the box office (656-0275). For the Victoria concerts, tickets are $13.50 to $27.25, available at the box office (385-6515). For more information, visit: www.victoriasymphony.ca Sarah Petrescu , Times Colonist Published: Thursday, January 03, 2008 When Victoria Symphony Maestra Tania Miller and her team plan a season of concerts, they are driven by the artists, pieces and instruments they want to shine the spotlight on. This year, Miller wanted to highlight a wind instrument. She chose contemporary composer John Adams's piece Gnarly Buttons , "a phenomenally challenging, funky piece," she says, and recruited Montreal clarinetist Si...

Haramati S, Soroker N, Dudai Y, & Levy DA. The posterior parietal cortex in recognition memory: A neuropsychological study. Neuropsychologia. 2007 Nov 29 [Epub ahead of print] Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, P.O. Box 26, Rehovot 76100, Israel. Several recent functional neuroimaging studies have reported robust bilateral activation (L>R) in lateral posterior parietal cortex and precuneus during recognition memory retrieval tasks. It has not yet been determined what cognitive processes are represented by those activations. In order to examine whether parietal lobe-based processes are necessary for basic episodic recognition abilities, we tested a group of 17 first-incident CVA patients whose cortical damage included (but was not limited to) extensive unilateral posterior parietal lesions. These patients performed a series of tasks that yielded parietal activations in previous fMRI studies: yes/no recognition judgments on visual words and on colored obj...

Bohnen NI, Kuwabara H, Constantine GM, Mathis CA, & Moore RY. Grooved pegboard test as a biomarker of nigrostriatal denervation in Parkinson's disease. Neuroscience Letters. 2007 September 13; 424(3): 185-189. Department of Radiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0028, USA. Recent pharmacotherapy trials in Parkinson's disease (PD) using dopaminergic neuroimaging as outcome parameter failed to show significant relationships between imaging and clinical results. One possible explanation is that there is a non-linear relationship between striatal denervation and motor performance reflecting a statistical "floor" effect in the imaging data with advanced disease. Both the motor manifestations and the striatal dopamine denervation of idiopathic PD, however, are typically asymmetric and more meaningful associations may be found by comparing data from the least denervated striatum with motor performance in the corresponding body side. PD patients (n=28) ...

Börjesson-Hanson A, Gustafson D, & Skoog I. Five-year mortality in relation to dementia and cognitive function in 95-year-olds. Neurology. 2007 Nov 27; 69(22): 2069-2075. Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Psychiatry Section, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Sweden. BACKGROUND: Dementia is a known predictor of mortality, but most studies include small numbers of participants above age 90. The influence of dementia or cognition on mortality in this age group is therefore uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To examine 5-year mortality in relation to dementia and cognitive performance at age 95. METHODS: A population sample of 338 individuals examined at age 95 was followed to age 100. Dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria. Cognitive function was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Information on severe physical disorders was obtained from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register, and date of death from the...

An nice feature article in today's New York Times : Scientists Want to Find Alzheimer’s Before a Mind Fails By DENISE GRADY The New York Times Published: December 26, 2007 [ ... Read the full article ... ]

From sfgate.com and The San Francisco Chronicle , continued penetration of pop neuropsychology into everyday life: 'Brain gym' may exorcise Boomers' fears about aging Heidi Benson, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, December 13, 2007 Marathon-happy Baby Boomers, those 78 million Americans born from 1946 to '64, were the first generation to make a religion of physical fitness. Now, they are investing time and money to maintain what's above their six-pack abs and rippling biceps: their brains. "People are living longer, and they want their brains to keep up with their bodies," said Lisa Schoonerman, who is on top of the trend. She and her life partner, Jan Zivic, have opened a "brain gym," called vibrantBrains, on Sacramento Street in San Francisco. "Studies show that regular mental workouts are WD-40 for the brain," Schoonerman said. "It's preventative maintenance." [ ... Read the full article ... ]

Sarah Polley has won another award for her movie: From The Vancouver Sun : Polley wins N.Y. film critics award CanWest News Service Published: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley has won the New York Film Critics Circle's best first film award for her directorial debut Away From Her , an adaptation of Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain . Academy award-winning actress Julie Christie took the best actress award for her performance in Polley's film as a woman suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's disease. © The Vancouver Sun 2007 [ ... Read the full article ... ]

The New York Times continues its coverage of cognitive agility with a column today by Jane Brody discussing different cognitive and physical ways to promote a fit mind: Mental Reserves Keep Brains Agile by Jane E. Brody The New York Times 11 December 2007 [ ... Read the full column ... ]

Tomorrow's Sunday New York Times Magazine is its annual new ideas of the past year issue. Among the many shiny ideas presented is telephone screening for dementia: Alzheimer’s Telephone Screening By RON FEEMSTER The New York Times Published: December 9, 2007 This year, researchers completed work on a 50-question telephone quiz to help them identify Alzheimer’s patients long before they exhibit typical symptoms. Such a quiz may soon become part of regular medical care. This new tool measures what the researchers call “cognitive vital signs” like short-term memory loss, which is the most important early sign of Alzheimer’s, and detects declines in everyday abilities like using a telephone, preparing meals or managing finances. The quiz also picks up behavioral warning signs including apathy, irritability and depression. “If somebody is failing these cognitive tests, they already have the characteristics of the disease,” says Jeffrey Cummings, director of the Alzheimer Disease Center...

A short piece in today's Washington Post about the potential problems and potential benefits of broad screenings for dementia of Alzheimer's disease in the general population of aging persons: To Screen, or Not to Screen Experts Debate Mass Testing For Alzheimer's Disease By Alicia Ault Special to The Washington Post Tuesday, December 4, 2007; Page HE01 [ ... Read the full article ... ]

Meador KJ, Gevins A, Loring DW, McEvoy LK, Ray PG, Smith ME, Motamedi GK, Evans BM, & Baum C. Neuropsychological and neurophysiologic effects of carbamazepine and levetiracetam. Neurology. 2007 Nov 27; 69(22): 2076-2084. Department of Neurology, University of Florida, McKnight Brain Institute (L3-100), 100 South Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. BACKGROUND: The relative effects of levetiracetam (LEV) and carbamazepine (CBZ) on cognitive and neurophysiologic measures are uncertain. METHODS: The effects of LEV and CBZ were compared in healthy adults using a randomized, double-blind, two-period crossover design. Outcome measures included 11 standard neuropsychological tests and the score from a cognitive-neurophysiologic test of attention and memory. Evaluations were conducted at screening, baseline pre-drug treatment, end of each maintenance phase (4 weeks), and end of each washout period after drug treatment. RESULTS: A total of 28 adults (17 women) with mean age of 33 ye...

From the American Psychological Association: GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS IN PSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Do you want to take charge of your career? Do you need financial support for graduate school or postdoctoral studies? Are you interested in ethnic minority issues? Then the Minority Fellowship Program is for you! The Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) offers the following fellowships The Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS) Fellowship is aimed at those pursuing doctoral degrees in clinical, counseling, and school psychology, or other mental health services areas. This program is primarily for individuals who want to deliver services. The MHSAS Postdoctoral Fellowship is aimed at early career doctoral recipients who are interested in developing a career in mental health service delivery, policy, or services-related research. The Diversity Program in Neuroscience Fellowship is geared to those pursuing careers in neuroscience. Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships ...

From the Radio Iowa website: Task force seeks public input on Alzheimer's disease Monday, November 26, 2007, 8:46 AM By Pat Curtis "A task force in Iowa that's looking for ways to improve services to Alzheimer's patients is asking for your help. John McCalley, director of the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs , says all Iowans are invited to take an on-line survey. He says the survey is mainly designed for Alzheimer's patients and their family members or care givers. McCalley, who also chairs the 17-member Alzheimer's disease Task Force, says the state's current services to dementia patients are somewhat uncoordinated. He says funding is provided to Area Agencies on Aging across the state, but those services face limited funding, especially in rural areas. An estimated 65,000 Iowans have Alzheimer's disease and that number is expected to grow as Iowa's population ages. McCalley says the survey only takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. He says the ques...

Love in the Time of Dementia By KATE ZERNIKE Published: November 18, 2007 The New York Times Kudos to the headline writer for the reference to Love in the Time of Cholera , the wonderful book, which after twenty years has now been released as a movie. Kudos also to Kate Zernike for this wonderful first line to her piece in today's Times : "So this, in the end, is what love is." [ ... Read the full piece ... ] Away from Her .

Pattyn N, Neyt X, Henderickx D, & Soetens E. Psychophysiological investigation of vigilance decrement: Boredom or cognitive fatigue? Physiology and Behavior. 2007 Oct 3; [Epub ahead of print.] Department of Cognitive & Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan, 2, 1050 Brussel, Belgium; Department of Behavioral Sciences, Royal Military Academy, Renaissancelaan, 30, 1000 Brussel, Belgium. The vigilance decrement has been described as a slowing in reaction times or an increase in error rates as an effect of time-on-task during tedious monitoring tasks. This decrement has been alternatively ascribed to either withdrawal of the supervisory attentional system, due to underarousal caused by the insufficient workload, or to a decreased attentional capacity and thus the impossibility to sustain mental effort. Furthermore, it has previously been reported that controlled processing is the locus of the vigilance decrement. This study aimed at answering three questions...

A press release from the NIH : Scientists Zero in on the Cellular Machinery that Enables Neurons to Fire If you ever had a set of Micronauts — toy robots with removable body parts — you probably had fun swapping their heads, imagining how it would affect their behavior. Scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health have been performing similar experiments on ion channels — pores in our nerve cells — to sort out the channels' key functional parts. In the November 15 issue of Nature , one group of researchers shows that a part of ion channels called the paddle is uniquely transplantable between different channels. Writing in the same issue, another group exploited this property to probe the three-dimensional structure of ion channels on an atomic scale. "The effects of many toxins and therapeutic drugs, as well as some diseases, can be wholly explained by changes in ion channel function," says Story Landis, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Neurologic...