The article details the story of Al Frances, a former writer of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the primary source for psychologists and psychiatrists in making a psychological diagnosis, and his efforts to fight against the current system we used to define [...]]]> I recently read an article titled, ”Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness.”

The article details the story of Al Frances, a former writer of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the primary source for psychologists and psychiatrists in making a psychological diagnosis, and his efforts to fight against the current system we used to define mental illness in the United states.

Key Points:

• Every year, the APA (American Psychological Association) makes over $6.5 million on sales of the DSM

• The DSM is the basis for diagnosis for all psychological disorders

• Many psychiatrists are leery of the changes that are being made for the upcoming DSM and the how will effect future diagnosis

Key Quote:

“‘We made mistakes that had terrible consequences,’ [Frances] says. Diagnoses of autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder skyrocketed, and …     fostered an increasing tendency to chalk up life’s difficulties to mental illness and then treat them with psychiatric drugs.“

Read the full article here.

It’s no big secret that exercising is good for us.  We work out to look good and stay healthy.  But, when we think about the health benefits, we shouldn’t just stop at our physical health.   Researchers are finding there is an important connection between working out and our mental health!  Yes, hitting the gym [...]]]> Exercise and Anxiety

It’s no big secret that exercising is good for us.  We work out to look good and stay healthy.  But, when we think about the health benefits, we shouldn’t just stop at our physical health.   Researchers are finding there is an important connection between working out and our mental health!  Yes, hitting the gym or running a few miles in the neighborhood can actually reduce stress, relieve anxiety and make us happier!

Effects of Exercise on Anxiety

Scientific studies continue to reinforce the incredible health benefits of exercise. A recent study out of the University of Georgia has shown that women who exercise experience a “significant” decline in their anxiety.

Key points from the study:

• Participants in the study suffered from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, defined as “a pattern of frequent, constant worry and anxiety over many different activities and events.”
• Not only did anxiety decline with exercise, but also “moderate to large” improvements were seen in irritability, pain, and feelings of tension.
• Exercise had the same effect on anxiety regardless of whether or not the women were taking medication

Exercise and Your Brain

Along with a decrease in anxiety, exercise also strengthens your brain function. Exercise outperforms antidepressants and allows for better focus and Improved memory.

At Neurocore, we work to retrain your brain and reduce anxiety through neurofeedback. We see great success in treating anxiety, but as studies continue to show, exercise is strongly encouraged as a supplement to any treatment.

Resources

For more information regarding the University of Georgia Study read this article:http://www.coe.uga.edu/news/2012/01/17/study-finds-exercise-reduces-anxiety-disorder-symptoms-in-women/

Read the following article from Web-MD on how to train your brain using exercise: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/train-your-brain-with-exercise?page=2

On Sunday, all of us lost an hour in our day as we “sprung” forward with Daylight Savings. Some of us may have gone to bed an hour earlier than normal, but I suspect most of us chose to stay up till our normal time and risk feeling a little more groggy and sluggish [...]]]>

On Sunday, all of us lost an hour in our day as we “sprung” forward with Daylight Savings. Some of us may have gone to bed an hour earlier than normal, but I suspect most of us chose to stay up till our normal time and risk feeling a little more groggy and sluggish for the next couple of days. What difference could it make, right?

One night of too little sleep won’t do much harm, but many of us continue to deprive ourselves of sleep night after night.

Research continues to show that long term sleep deprivation can have several negative consequences including:

• Chronic fatigue
• Decreased productivity
• Poor decision making
• Lack of focus
• Weight gain
• Increased risk of illness

Slow Down

The world of today is not helping when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep. E-mail, laptops, smart phones, tablets and even light bulbs are contributing to the lengthening of our days and shortening of our nights. Modern technology is not a bad thing, but we need to be wise in our use of it. We need to learn to “unplug” and slow down in order to get an adequate amount of sleep each night.

At Neurocore, it is our view that a good night’s sleep is necessary in order to live a healthy, balanced life. The body’s sleep/wake cycle plays a key role in the regulation of the body’s many systems. It is our goal to restore our clients’ natural sleep/wake cycle, allowing them to experience the fullness of life that comes with a good night’s sleep.

Resources:

• “Is Your Brain Sleeping While You’re Awake?” - National Geographic
• “Fighting the Clock: How America’s Sleep Deficit is Damaging Longterm Health.” - video of a recent panel discussion on sleep hosted by The Huffington Post and The Forum at Harvard School of Public Health
• “Sleep deprivation and teens: ‘Walking zombies,’” – Washington Post
• “How Much Sleep do we Really Need?” - National Sleep Foundation

February 11, 2012 - Wall Street Journal Online

Neuroscience is in the process of reinventing itself. For 400 years, the brain was seen as a machine with parts, each performing a single mental function in a single brain location. Eventually the brain was seen as a computer with hard-wired circuits, all [...]]]> By Dr. Norman Doidge

February 11, 2012 - Wall Street Journal Online

Neuroscience is in the process of reinventing itself. For 400 years, the brain was seen as a machine with parts, each performing a single mental function in a single brain location. Eventually the brain was seen as a computer with hard-wired circuits, all formed and finalized in childhood. It was believed that the brain’s circuitry was only alterable in certain “critical periods,” or brief windows of extreme plasticity; these were thought to occur in childhood, when experience helped to form the brain’s circuitry. The conventional wisdom was that certain skills must be learned early on; it was generally “too late” for adults to pick up a new language or musical skill. Plasticity was for kids.

But in the past few decades mainstream neuroscience has reversed itself, demonstrating that the brain is “neuroplastic” from cradle to grave. Neuroplasticity is the property of the brain that allows it to change its structure and function through mental experience. This discovery has led to new treatments for learning disabilities and for strokes (so that adults can at times, through brain exercises, develop new circuitry and cure themselves). A host of neurological and psychiatric problems and injuries can now be addressed through mind-based interventions.

The question thus inevitably arises: What ambitious kinds of learning might we, as adults, undertake? Is the brain plastic enough, say, for a 39-year-old adult without any apparent musical skill to learn an instrument and become a musician? In “Guitar Zero,” the cognitive psychologist Gary Marcus sets out to answer this question by using himself as a guinea pig.

Marcus tells us that, since childhood, he had yearned to be musical and play the electric guitar but had concluded that he lacked the talent (hence, “Guitar Zero”). His friend Daniel Levitin, an accomplished musician, neuroscientist and the author of “This Is Your Brain on Music,” tried to give Mr. Marcus a few guitar lessons and joked that he suffered from “congenital arrhythmia.” But one day, fiddling with the videogame Guitar Hero, which gives a player the illusion of playing guitar licks by pressing the right button at the right moment, Mr. Marcus was so enthralled that he decided to spend his coming sabbatical trying to learn to play guitar—in effect, testing whether his brain was plastic enough to do so. This book recounts the 18-month experience, practicing up to six hours a day. “Guitar Zero” is a refreshing alternation between the nitty-gritty details of learning rock-guitar licks and Mr. Marcus’s survey of the relevant scientific literature on learning and the brain.

The conditions for plastic change are altered after the critical period. Babies in a critical period for language development can learn words effortlessly, for example: As I like to put it, babies don’t furrow their brows to pick up new words as adults do when cramming for a vocabulary test. After the critical period, deliberate mental effort and focus alter the brain’s circuitry and grow new connections.

Brain scans show that musicians’ new neuronal connections vary according to the instrument they play. Violinists have their signature brain changes, brass players theirs. Loving what we do helps to form these new connections, because the same dopamine chemistry that gives us the pleasurable rush of reward consolidates new brain connections.

Immersion fosters learning after the critical period, not only because it enforces more practice time. Adults have more difficulty learning than children in part because they have built up so many language habits that they have to overcome. This too is a product of brain plasticity: The circuits we use the most get stronger and “outcompete” others. Immersion prevents us from reinforcing those habits.

I knew an intelligence officer who had failed to learn languages repeatedly until he was appointed head of the CIA’s Latin American desk. Now his problem was serious. He moved abroad, lived with a Spanish family that couldn’t speak any English, and became fluent in months. Mr. Marcus’s immersion included not just playing but learning music theory and conducting interviews with musicians. Guitarist Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), we learn, didn’t start playing until he was 17, but he practiced six hours a day for four years while a doing an undergraduate degree at Harvard. He missed only three days, for a total of 8,760 hours.

“Guitar Zero” makes some delightful counterintuitive fine points. Kids are not quicker learners; but they are more persistent. Kids will practice riffs over and over, just as they will play a new videogame ad nauseam. In the end, Mr. Marcus does not become the next Jimi Hendrix, but he can play guitar, perform in a band and write songs, and he has overcome his supposedly hard-wired “congenital” arrhythmia.

Most important, his life has been significantly changed; it is more balanced, its joy enhanced by his becoming musical. Few people can imagine taking off 18 months to change themselves in such a way, but then few know it is possible. For those who look forward, in “retirement,” to honoring the lifelong yearnings they have neglected, “Guitar Zero” is good news. Neuroplastic discoveries about adult development are a good reason for the word “retirement” to itself be retired. We may be happiest if we work our brains as hard as ever—doing something we love.

Wall Street Journal Online – Researchers for the first time are documenting the basic wiring of the brain, the complex relationships among billions of neurons that are responsible for reason, memory and emotion. The work eventually could lead to better understanding of schizophrenia, autism, multiple sclerosis [...]]]> By Robert Lee Hotz

Wall Street Journal Online – Researchers for the first time are documenting the basic wiring of the brain, the complex relationships among billions of neurons that are responsible for reason, memory and emotion. The work eventually could lead to better understanding of schizophrenia, autism, multiple sclerosis and other disorders.

For years, researchers have probed the brain with imaging techniques that can pick up simple changes in neural activity, but the fundamental anatomy of thought has eluded detection. No one knows yet exactly how the brain stores information or shapes human nature.

Researchers do believe, however, that all cognition emerges from the interplay of electrochemical impulses along the brain’s circuitry, which can call a word to mind, apply the rules of grammar and voice it aloud in 600 milliseconds.

So as a foundation upon which to build future understanding, researchers at the Human Connectome Project, the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle and other centers are beginning to chart the brain’s major circuits.

In recent months, these research teams have devised ways to make magnetic-resonance brain scans seven times more quickly and analyze neural connections 50 times faster than a year ago. And they have invented two techniques to better reveal the brain’s connections.

Researchers are also assembling databases linking brain scans, medical data, psychological profiles and genetic information from several thousand people, to try to understand how this labyrinth of links shapes the mind.

The hope is that a map of the brain’s physical wiring eventually will lead to answers about what causes mental conditions such as schizophrenia, which may be linked to the breakdown of neural connections. And as with the Human Genome Project that mapped the human genetic code, the researchers aim to make their findings about neural connections available for others to study.

“The study of connectivity is as hot as hot can get,” said Susan Bookheimer, a neuropsychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who is the new head of the Organization of Human Brain Mapping, a large international professional society of neuroimaging researchers.

Among the most complex structures in the universe, the average brain contains about 100 billion specialized cells called neurons—as many cells as stars in the Milky Way— linked by 150 trillion or so connections known as synapses. By current means, it could take researchers years to trace the 10,000 or so synapses that branch from just a single neuron. By comparison, the scientists who sequenced the first human genome had to map only three billion base-pair sequences of DNA.

“That is a million times more connections than the genome has letters of DNA,” said computational neuroscientist Sebastian Seung at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is developing ways to automate the mapping of individual synapses.

The field is so new that it didn’t have a name until 1995, when Indiana University neuroscientist Olaf Sporns dubbed the nervous system’s tangle of cells and synapses the “connectome” (pronounced connect-tome).

Leading the way today is the Human Connectome Project, a five-year, $40 million effort funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers at 11 institutions are mapping the largest conduits among brain regions by combining four imaging techniques, including a new method called diffusion magnetic-resonance imaging that allows researchers for the first time to accurately map the white matter of nerve fibers.

Starting this summer, Human Connectome Project researchers will begin scanning the brains of 1,200 healthy young adults. The subjects will include 300 pairs of twins, whose brains may help highlight the hereditary influence on neural connections.

The scientists plan to combine those brain scans with medical records and demographic information in electronic dossiers that can be analyzed on the project’s supercomputer. By pooling data about so many people, they hope to detect the relationships among patterns of neural connections, healthy brain behavior and neural disorders. They also hope to map variations between individuals and link them to behaviors to better understand what makes each person unique. “In essence, we will match form and function,” said project principle investigator David Van Essen at Washington University in St. Louis.

Already, researchers are finding hints that the brain’s electrical signals are relayed through a series of central hubs on their way to more-specialized regions, in a system organized like an airline’s routes.

At the same time, researchers at the privately funded Allen Institute for Brain Science are finishing a $55 million human brain atlas that offers the first interactive guide to the brain’s anatomy and genes. In November, the institute released a three-dimensional, high-resolution map of neural connections in the mouse brain.

“We want to understand the ties between the wiring and the underlying genes,” said Allan Jones, the institute’s chief executive. The institute plans to link the brain atlas to data assembled through the connectome project.

More broadly, these efforts are encouraging brain researchers to share data more openly.

At the Child Mind Institute in New York, Michael Milham and his colleagues recently persuaded researchers at 33 centers around the world to pool 1,300 data sets on brain connections into one public collection. Almost immediately, researchers discovered something new: the first signs of a universal architecture of brain connections underlying most day-to-day neural activity.

To link these physical circuits to behavior, Dr. Milham and colleagues next month will begin conducting brain scans and psychiatric tests on 1,000 people in a four-year, $1.6-million NIH project. “People are seeing more of the merits of sharing,” he said. “But there is still a lot of pushback.”

Source Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203750404577175331430981986.html?