BrainBlog

ADHD: Clinical Practice Guideline for the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Children and Adolescents American Academy of Pediatrics pdf download Upon release, the new guideline resulted in a good deal of commentary, analysis, and media coverage. Here is an example, from the Pharmalot blog: Read the blog entry here .

Perinatal cortical growth and childhood neurocognitive abilities Neurology . 2011 Oct 12; Rathbone R, Counsell SJ, Kapellou O, Dyet L, Kennea N, Hajnal J, Allsop JM, Cowan F, Edwards AD Abstract OBJECTIVE:This observational cohort study addressed the hypothesis that after preterm delivery brain growth between 24 and 44 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) is related to global neurocognitive ability in later childhood. METHODS:Growth rates for cerebral volume and cortical surface area were estimated in 82 infants without focal brain lesions born before 30 weeks PMA by using 217 magnetic resonance images obtained between 24 and 44 weeks PMA. Abilities were assessed at 2 years using the Griffiths Mental Development Scale and at 6 years using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R), the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY), and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). Analysis was by generalized least-squares regression. RESULTS:Mean t...

A new study has been funded to examine the use of olfactory testing in the earlier detection of Alzheimer's disease, one of my interests in neuropsychological assessment. The study is being funded and run is Australia. Here is a news report, from The Australian : Research funding boost for Alzheimer's SUE DUNLEVY October 17, 2011 12:00AM [snippet] "We are interested in developing a test that picks up Alzheimer's disease in the earliest stages, even before problems with cognition appear," he told The Australian. Adapting the strategy of the cardiac stress test that picks up heart disease in its early stages, Professor Schofield wants to see whether a smell test can identify people who later go on to develop Alzheimer's. Participants in the trial would be asked to scratch, sniff and identify 20 smells embedded in a piece of paper, then they would be given a chemical in their left nostril that interfered with the part of the olfactory system affected by Alzheimer...

Melbourne Brain Centre opens 9News 17:22 AEST Mon Oct 17 2011 Read the report

A press release from the BBC: Radio 4 presents season of programmes on the brain Date: 30.09.2011 Category: Radio 4 Starting on 7 November, BBC Radio 4 presents a new season of programmes about the brain. The season includes: a major 10-part series about the history of the brain; an exploration of what the latest discoveries in neuroscience might mean for the way we live our lives; an interview with one of Britain's leading brain experts and the slaying of common myths about the brain and its workings; and a new radio science website. The season starts with Dr Geoff Bunn's 10-part A History Of The Brain series which takes listeners on a journey through 5,000 years of our understanding of the most complex thing in the known universe. Moving from Neolithic times to the present day, Geoff journeys through the many and varied ideas about what the brain is for and how it fulfils its functions. This ground-breaking series, written and presented by Dr Geoff Bunn, can be heard on week...

Amyloid-beta levels are significantly reduced and spatial memory defects are rescued in a novel neuroserpin-deficient Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse model J Neurochem. 2011 Sep; 118(5): 928-38 Authors: Fabbro S, Schaller K, Seeds NW Abstract Amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Several proteases including plasmin are thought to promote proteolytic cleavage and clearance of Aβ from brain. The activity of both plasmin and tissue plasminogen activator are reduced in Alzheimer's disease brain, while the tissue plasminogen activator inhibitor neuroserpin is up-regulated. Here, the relationship of tissue plasminogen activator and neuroserpin to Aβ levels is explored in mouse models. Aβ(1-42) peptide injected into the frontal cortex of tissue plasminogen activator knockout mice is slow to disappear compared to wildtype mice, whereas neuroserpin knockout mice show a rapid clearance of Aβ(1-42). The relationship of neuroserpin and tissue plasminoge...

The SIST-M: Predictive Validity of a Brief Structured Clinical Dementia Rating Interview Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders. 2011 Oct 6; Okereke OI, Pantoja-Galicia N, Copeland M, Hyman BT, Wanggaard T, Albert MS, Betensky RA, Blacker D Abstract BACKGROUND:: We have previously established the reliability and cross-sectional validity of the SIST-M (Structured Interview and Scoring Tool-Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center), a shortened version of an instrument shown to predict progression to Alzheimer disease (AD), even among persons with very mild cognitive impairment (vMCI). OBJECTIVE:: To test the predictive validity of the SIST-M. METHODS:: Participants were 342 community-dwelling, nondemented older adults in a longitudinal study. Baseline Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) ratings were determined by either (1) clinician interviews or (2) a previously developed computer algorithm based on 60 questions (of a possible 131) extracted from clinician interviews. We ...

Norms for CERAD Constructional Praxis Recall Clinical Neuropsychol. 2011 Oct 13 Fillenbaum GG, Burchett BM, Unverzagt FW, Rexroth DF, Welsh-Bohmer K Abstract Recall of the four-item constructional praxis measure was a later addition to the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery. Norms for this measure, based on cognitively intact African Americans age ≥70 (Indianapolis-Ibadan Dementia Project, N = 372), European American participants age ≥66 (Cache County Study of Memory, Health and Aging, N = 507), and European American CERAD clinic controls age ≥50 (N = 182), are presented here. Performance varied by site; by sex, education, and age (African Americans in Indianapolis); education and age (Cache County European Americans); and only age (CERAD European American controls). Performance declined with increased age, within age with less education, and was poorer for women. Means, standard deviations, and percentiles are presented s...

The Brain Study blog published an interesting posting earlier in the week about this important contemporary issue in neuropsychology: Brain Study posting about Reality Monitoring A good read!

A new online open-access journal: Brain and Behavior Wiley Volume 1, Issue 1 Table of Contents From the website: "With the launch of this open access, multidisciplinary journal, we offer a broad scientific community a forum for rapid publication of original contributions, covering all aspects of neurology, neuroscience, psychology, and psychiatry. By offering quality assurance through stringent peer review and delivering content quickly, broadly, and effectively, we aim for Brain and Behavior to become both your regular source for neurology, neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry research, as well as a platform by which you will offer your best science to the broadest community possible."

Space Fortress game training and executive control in older adults: A pilot intervention Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn . 2011 Oct 12; Stern Y, Blumen HM, Rich LW, Richards A, Herzberg G, Gopher D Abstract ABSTRACT We investigated the feasibility of using the Space Fortress (SF) game, a complex video game originally developed to study complex skill acquisition in young adults, to improve executive control processes in cognitively healthy older adults. The study protocol consisted of 36 one-hour game play sessions over 3 months with cognitive evaluations before and after, and a follow-up evaluation at 6 months. Sixty participants were randomized to one of three conditions: Emphasis Change (EC) - elders were instructed to concentrate on playing the entire game but place particular emphasis on a specific aspect of game play in each particular game; Active Control (AC) - game play with standard instructions; Passive Control (PC) - evaluation sessions without game play. Pri...

Glen Campbell, a US cowboy-music entertainer was diagnosed with probable Alzheimer's disease earlier on 2011. He and his spouse have appeared on a number of television and radio shows, including BBC's Today show. Today, they appear on The Ellen Show, on US television.

Brain regions with mirror properties: A meta-analysis of 125 human fMRI studies Neuroscience Biobehavioral Rev . 2011 Jul 18. [Epub ahead of print] Molenberghs P, Cunnington R, Mattingley JB. Abstract Mirror neurons in macaque area F5 fire when an animal performs an action, such as a mouth or limb movement, and also when the animal passively observes an identical or similar action performed by another individual. Brain-imaging studies in humans conducted over the last 20 years have repeatedly attempted to reveal analogous brain regions with mirror properties in humans, with broad and often speculative claims about their functional significance across a range of cognitive domains, from language to social cognition. Despite such concerted efforts, the likely neural substrates of these mirror regions have remained controversial, and indeed the very existence of a distinct subcategory of human neurons with mirroring properties has been questioned. Here we used activation likelihood estimat...

Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury: Evaluating the Evidence Institute of Medicine Released: 11 October 2011 For more information, click here

The Cochrane Collaboration Supports Free Access to all Data from all Clinical Trials 05 October 2011 Read the full statement

Revealing the Functional Neuroanatomy of Intrinsic Alertness Using fMRI: Methodological Peculiarities PLoS One. 2011; 6(9): e25453 Clemens B, Zvyagintsev M, Sack A, Heinecke A, Willmes K, Sturm W Abstract Clinical observations and neuroimaging data revealed a right-hemisphere fronto-parietal-thalamic-brainstem network for intrinsic alertness, and additional left fronto-parietal activity during phasic alertness. The primary objective of this fMRI study was to map the functional neuroanatomy of intrinsic alertness as precisely as possible in healthy participants, using a novel assessment paradigm already employed in clinical settings. Both the paradigm and the experimental design were optimized to specifically assess intrinsic alertness, while at the same time controlling for sensory-motor processing. The present results suggest that the processing of intrinsic alertness is accompanied by increased activity within the brainstem, thalamus, anterior cingulate gyrus, right insula, and right...

Model-based economic evaluation in Alzheimer's disease: a review of the methods available to model Alzheimer's disease progression Value Health . 2011 Jul-Aug;14(5):621-30 Green C, Shearer J, Ritchie CW, Zajicek JP Abstract OBJECTIVE: To consider the methods available to model Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression over time to inform on the structure and development of model-based evaluations, and the future direction of modelling methods in AD. METHODS: A systematic search of the health care literature was undertaken to identify methods to model disease progression in AD. Modelling methods are presented in a descriptive review. RESULTS: The literature search identified 42 studies presenting methods or applications of methods to model AD progression over time. The review identified 10 general modelling frameworks available to empirically model the progression of AD as part of a model-based evaluation. Seven of these general models are statistical models predicting progressio...

Executive functions in Parkinson's disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis Movement Disorders. 2011 Oct 3; Kudlicka A, Clare L, Hindle JV Abstract Impairment of executive function (EF) is commonly reported as a feature of PD. However, the exact pattern of executive impairment remains unclear. Also, there is an ongoing discussion surrounding the definition and conceptualization of EF, which might affect the clarity of research evidence on cognition in PD. The aim of this systematic review was to describe the pattern of executive impairment in early-stage PD emerging from the research literature and to identify critical issues for improving consistency in this field. The PsychInfo, MEDLINE, Science Direct, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library databases were searched using the term "Parkinson's disease" combined with each of 14 cognitive abilities defined as representing aspects of EF. The review was limited to studies that investigated EF as the central variable in early-...

Difficulties in disengaging attentional resources from self-generated thoughts moderate the link between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking Cogn Emot. 2011 Oct 5; Rochat L, Billieux J, Van der Linden M Abstract Negative emotions increase self-focused attention, a core feature of depression and anxiety-related disorders. However, the cognitive mechanisms associated with the tendency to self-focus-and, conversely, with the ability to voluntarily disengage attentional resources from the self and direct them towards the external environment-remain poorly understood. Thus, this study aimed to examine whether a specific cognitive control mechanism that directs attention between self-generated thoughts and external information might moderate the relationship between dysphoria and maladaptive self-referential thinking. Results showed that dysphoria increases the frequency of rumination, self-blame, and catastrophising, especially for participants who have more difficulty in s...

A fine read from the Pharmalot blog: All Trial Data Must Be Disclosed: Rogawski Explains By Ed Silverman October 5th, 2011 - 9:36 am Read the full blog posting