BrainBlog

Dr. Kerry Hamsher died on 23rd October, 2015. Dr. Hamsher's commitment to neuropsychology as a science and as a profession was an ever-present one. His was an encyclopedic and sharp mind that could wrap itself around any clinical topic related to the central nervous system and behavior. He was indefatiguable in his pursuit of best practices for the education and post-graduate training of neuropsychologists. He was an essential participant in the work of the Houston Conference and within the American Board of Clinical Neuropsychology (ABCN). His two-year fellowship program at the Neurology Department of the University of Wisconsin Medical School – Milwaukee Clinical Campus during the decade of the 1980s was to become a model of post-graduate training in neuropsychology. A student of Dr. Arthur L. Benton, he was instrumental in the development of the Multilingual Aphasia Examination (MAE), the Facial Recognition Test (FRT), the Judgment of Line Orientation test (JLO), and the...

The first part of a two-part course on the topic, Principles of fMRI , opens at Coursera in October. Addendum: Opening day is Monday, the 12th of October.

The Brain, within its Groove Runs evenly--and true-- But let a Splinter swerve-- 'Twere easier for You-- To put a Current back-- When Floods have slit the Hills-- And scooped a Turnpike for Themselves-- And trodden out the Mills-- -Emily Dickinson In the world of MOOCs, few courses have shown the creativity of purpose and the dedicated following as has the course "Modern and Contemporary American Poetry" by Dr. Al Filreis of the University of Pennsylvania and Director of its wonderful Kelly Writers House. It opens today for its fourth offering Few courses, in real life or online, have such a dedicated teacher as Al. The course, part of Al's regular teaching at Penn in its English Department, has been presented in MOOC form at this time of year in 2012, 2013, and 2014 at Coursera. The ten-week course is back, opening today to thousands of students, myself included (fourth timer). Week after week, this likely remains the largest single collection of ded...

Oliver Sacks.

Earlier today, the Alzheimer's Disease International group released its "World Alzheimer Report 2015" document. It can be found at: Report .

My Katrina blog entry from 03 September 2005: Shame on US The "Fuck Katrina" Mixtape:

Prof. Jean Aicardi .

Friday, the 7th of August 2015, was the day the anti-torture reformers (The "Dissidents") won a victory that was a decade-long in the making. Here is the approved resolution: document here . Now, the devil will be in the details as the ban needs to be encoded and formalized. Stay vigilant. Regardless of whether or not you are a member of the APA (I am not), stay vigilant. But, enjoy and long remember the day when the membership won an important victory. Psychologists Approve Ban on Role in National Security Interrogations James Risen The New York Times 07 August 2015 Read the article here . Other media reports include Democracy Now! coverage and interviews and another excellent BuzzFeed piece. [Photo by Anthony Risser, 15 June 2008, Philadelphia]

This is a "turning point" week for American psychology, with implications that are generational, rather than short-term. These are implications that directly impact the profession and science of psychology and the degree of trust that the public can have in psychology. Will the APA as an entity say "no" to torture, say "no" to its increased militarization, and say "no" to this Obedience-To-Our-Authority approach to membership, especially members who disagree with the entity's 'party line'? Or will it say "yes" to a return to ethics, say "yes" to an embrace of "First, Do No Harm" approach to its services, and say "yes" to an end of its bullying of people who do not agree with them? We still do not know. You can find the "Hoffman Report" here: click here Wednesday was a pre-conference day of workshops and meetings for the APA, including a meeting of its Council of Representatives. ...

Tell the American Psychological Association that torture is wrong, that they need to find a way to become ethical representatives of psychology and psychologists --- or they should just remove themselves from being a body that purports to represent American psychologists and psychology. [Photo by Anthony Risser, 15 June 2008, Philadelphia]

Alzheimer's Association Press Release at 0700 hrs EDT on 22 July 2015. - Longer-Term Analysis of Phase 3 Solanezumab (Lilly) Up to 3.5 Years - Biomarker Results from Phase 3 Gantenerumab (Roche) Trial - New Data from Aducanumab (Biogen) Phase 1b Study Video released by the Alzheimer's Association: Video from press briefing Article in The Guardian: Scientists find first drug that appears to slow Alzheimer's disease Solanezumab blocks memory loss in patients with mild version of the disease, making it the first medicine ever to slow pace of damage to patients’ brains Read the article here

Here is a link to the statement: British Psychological Society statement on APA Hoffman Review "We condemn and repudiate such practices and repeat our longstanding and principled stance that there is an overriding ethical responsibility on all psychologists and other healthcare professionals to protect and defend fundamental human rights."

Spencer Ackerman of The Guardian has written a fine piece about a psychologist who tried and tried hard to defeat Torture Psychology and the complicity of the American Psychological Association (APA). In doing so, she had to experience a smear campaign by the powers of the American Psychological Association who were hell-bent on their path of complicity. 'A national hero': psychologist who warned of torture collusion gets her due by Spencer Ackerman The Guardian 13 July 2015 Read this fine article here Dr. Arrigo was also interviewed earlier today on Democracy Now! Here is additional information about Dr. Arrigo from her Coalition for Ethical Psychology website: Dr. Jean Maria Arrigo

Today is opening day for a new Coursera MOOC on the topics of systematic reviews and meta-analysis. The course is from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Here is an overview to the course: Read Course Overview Here

I've been curating tweets about this using a hashtag I started using back in April: #TorturePsychology

An excellent overview written by Tom Bartlett in the Chronicle of Higher Education about Torture Psychology and the APA. What a Bombshell Report Tells Us About the APA’s Abetting of Torture by Tom Bartlett (@tebartl) Chronicle of Higher Education 13 July 2015 Read the article here

Dr. John Grohol at his "PsychCentral" blog 11th July, 2015 Read the full blog entry [snip] "My Membership in the APA" "While I’ve enjoyed the collegiality of having other like-minded psychologists to turn to over the years of maintaining my APA membership, this report has made it clear that the APA in its current form is an organization that has lost the plot. "I feel that it is shameful that I’m a member of an organization that has stifled and dismissed dissent, while covering up its own unethical practices. If the APA were a professional of its own organization, it would have kicked itself out years ago for its unethical behavior and lies. "In short, my APA membership is actually a liability now. I refuse to be a member in any organization that has spent so much time, effort and focus on defending its unethical practices than in doing much of anything to help my profession. I can no longer trust it to act responsibly and ethically, nor ...

One of the day's essential reads: "Opening Comments of Stephen Soldz and Steven Reisner to the American Psychological Association (APA) Board of Directors" 02 July 2015 Washington, DC Read document here