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Progressive Disorders: Quick Facts on Multiple Sclerosis & Alzheimer’s

07/05/2011 by 3icreative

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder in which cells target a part of your body. There is no way to turn it off, therefore it is a progressive disorder.

  • Affects 2.5 million people in North America + Europe
  • Immune system attacks myelin
  • Formation of scar tissue
  • Results in numbness, weakness, tremors, and vision disturbances
  • More common in women
  • May experience flare-ups due to stress and/or illness

Drugs can slow down multiple sclerosis, but cannot stop it entirely.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer's Disease is a Progressive Disorder
Alzheimer's Protein Fibril

Not all memory impairment is due to Alzheimers. Alzheimers is a progressive disease that affects about:

  • 10% of US population over 65
  • 30% of US population over 85

Typical symptoms of Alzheimer’s include memory declines, confusion, irritability and difficulty eating/eliminating. Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s Disease include:

  • Neurofibrillary tangles
  • Amyloid plaques – scar tissue, dead neurons
  • Changes in memory structures – hippocampus/amygdala, ventricles get larger
  • The disease attacks acetylcholine neurons that are responsible for neurons
  • Some evidence of chronic immune activity in the brain

Studies indicate that there is no clear evidence that sundowning in more common in Alzheimer’s patients, although it does occur.

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With: Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, Progressive Disorders, psychology

Perception: Learning Eye Anatomy

07/05/2011 by 3icreative

Anatomy of the Eye - DiagramBefore you can understand the psychology of perception, a basic knowledge of eye anatomy is necessary.

  • Cornea – Protective membrane on the outside of the eye. If you have an astigmatism, the cornea isn’t as smooth as it should be.
  • Iris – Colored muscle, changes the size of the pupil.
  • Pupil – Black spot that is the hole through which light enters the eyeball.
  • Lens – Focuses light onto receptors.
  • Cilliary Muscles – Pull tight to help us focus.
  • Retina – Layers of different kinds of cells.
  • Fovea – Central point of focus within retina, cleanest, crispest, sharpest point of focus.

Psychology & the Eye

This book from Oliver Sacks a physician, best-selling author, and professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, talks about many of eye-related disorders. If you’re familiar with “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” you’ll also like this book. In particular, there is a great story on binocular disparity.

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With: Eye, Perception, psychology

Neuroscientists Analyze Searches On Sexual Desires

04/26/2011 by 3icreative

Search queries offer a new source of data for many things, even what computational neuroscientists Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam call “true” sexual desires. The new book, “A Billion Wicked Thoughts,” co-authored by the duo and scheduled for release on May 5, analyzes 1 billion Web searches from around the world.

Aside from the United States, search data now makes it possible to look at sexual behavior with clarity in Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Germany, Italy, Russia, and other countries.

Read the entire article at MediaPost.

Filed Under: Neuromarketing Tagged With: Neuroscience, psychology, Search Behavior

The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

04/22/2011 by 3icreative

Mindfulness Meditation if Good for Your Brain

Mindfulness Meditation Changes Your Brain

A new study led by Britta Hölzel, PhD, a psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, provides evidence that mindfulness meditation isn’t just good for you – it actually changes your brain!

The published article (Mindfulness Practice leads to increases in regional gray matter) appeared in the 1/30/2011 issue of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

This is a review of the study for my biopsychology class.

Determining Brain Changes After a Mindfulness Meditation Course

The goal of this research study was to identify parts of the brain that changed based upon participation in an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course by objectively correlating them with measurable neurological changes.

To prepare for the study, the researchers reviewed many different pieces of background literature that indicated mindfulness meditation provides psychological benefits, like those by Ruth Bauer in 2003, and Paul Grossman in 2004.

Some of the therapeutic benefits they investigated included previous research on mindfulness meditation in relation to anxiety (Roemer et al., 2008), depression (Teasdale et al., 2000), substance abuse (Bowen et al., 2006), eating disorders (Tapper et al., 2009) and chronic pain (Grossman et al., 2007), as well as:

  • Studies around awareness and perceptual shifts, like those by Kabatt-Zinn in 1990, and Carmody in 2009;
  • Studies that used neuroimaging techniques to study mindfulness, including EEG (Davidson, et al., 2003; Slagter et al, 2009) and MRI (Farb et al., 2007; Lutz et al, 2008; and Goldin and Gross 2010; and many others);
  • Studies related to plasticity and changes in the brain during mindfulness meditation (Draganski et al 2006; Mechelli et al, 2004; Milad et al, 2005; and others).

In the study, researchers do not explicitly state how they hoped to improve upon previous research. However, my assumption based on the introduction is that they hoped to verify and improve upon research related to which parts of the brain undergo changes during mindfulness meditation, as well provide scientific proof that the 8-week program is a worthwhile investment.

The hypothesis was that they would find changes in the brain’s gray matter, specifically the insula and hippocampus, as well as other “whole brain” changes, that relate to learning and memory, emotional regulation, self-referential processing and perspective taking.

Methods Used in the Mindfulness Meditation Study

The study was rather small, and only consisted of 16 participants (6 males and 10 female) who were seeking to reduce stress and enrolled in the MBSR course held at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. They were carefully screened to ensure they were both physically and psychologically healthy, not taking any medications, and had not participated in any recent meditation classes.

The average demographics were:

  • Age: 38;
  • Ethnicity: 13 Caucasian; 1 Asian; 1 African American; 1 multi-ethnic;
  • Education: 18 years.

Based upon this information, the sample size definitely does not accurately represent the general population. It is limiting by all characteristics, and skewed heavily toward college-educated, Caucasian females in their 30s. Interestingly, all participants were also right-handed.

The authors of the study used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to study changes in the brain’s gray matter. Wikipedia explains VBM as, “A neuroimaging analysis technique that allows investigation of focal differences in brain anatomy by registering every brain to a template, which gets rid of most of the large differences in brain anatomy among people. Then the brain images are smoothed so that each voxel represents the average of itself and its neighbors.”

In addition, each participant was given an MRI at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging in Charlestown, MA. Finally, each participant completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) pre and post intervention. Measurements for each participant were taken before and after the 8-week mindfulness meditation course.

Results After the Mindfulness Meditation Course

The results of the mindfulness study are as follows:

  • Amount of mindfulness practice – No significant correlations were found in brain changes as they related to body scan and yoga, body scan and sitting meditation, and yoga and sitting meditation.
  • Improvements in mindfulness – MBSR program participants showed significant increases in three of five mindfulness subscales: acting with awareness, observing and non-judging.
  • Gray matter changes in a priori region – A small cluster in the left hippocampus showed increased gray matter.
  • Whole brain analysis – Four clusters in the brain showed an increase in gray matter, including the cingulate cortex, one in the left temporoparietal lobe, and two in the cerebellum, one of which was centered in the vermis and extended into the brain stem.

With this in mind, the hypothesis of the researchers was correct because the study was able to correlate specific changes in both the hippocampus and other areas of the brain’s gray matter, specifically the PCC, TPJ and cerebellum, to the participation in the MBSR program.

The areas identified in this study are known to regulate control of emotion (hippocampus and one area of the cerebellum), conscious experience (TPJ region), introspection/processing self-referential stimuli (PCC region), and the site of synthesis and release of the neurotransmitter norephinephrine, which plays a significant role in how our bodies respond to stress, as well as the release of serotonin (the area by the brain stem). This last area is also the place where antidepressant medications are synthesized, and is associated with a variety of clinical dysfunctions related to depression, anxiety, sleep and more.

Discussion of the Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation

The overall conclusion of the study is that thanks to the plasticity of the adult nervous system, people suffering from stress can benefit both physically and psychologically by participating in a MBSR program, like the intervention used during this research study.

The implication is that rather than relying on prescription (or non-prescription) drugs for relief from stress, Americans can achieve greater health benefits from holistic, alternative forms of medicine.

Due to some of the limitations of the study, however, additional research needs to be conducted to determine the extent of these benefits. For example, one areas that needs explored is the age range in which these benefits can be achieved, as well as if they are achieved in both “right-brain” and “left-brain” people. Furthermore, additional investigation around the different types of meditation would be needed to clarify which is most beneficial to treat specific concerns and health issues.

Personal Thoughts on Mindfulness Meditation

In conclusion, I feel that this is a great study because it helps reinforce to the general population, as well as physicians and insurance companies, that these types of natural solutions offer REAL health benefits – ones that may be better than our traditional  Western methods. The current state of our healthcare system is a testament to the fact that drugs are not a good solution. We are taking more medications than ever before, with the result being an increase in sickness and disease.

Perhaps with more studies like this one to support the medical benefits associated with mindfulness meditation and other natural solution, physicians will be more inclined to write prescriptions for these types of therapies, rather than prescribing Prozac and other antidepressants, and insurance companies will include them as part of coverage .

The only difference I would like to have seen is a sample more representative of the general population.

Moving forward, I think additional research is needed in several specific areas:

  • A study to determine if the same results are achieved by those who are NOT stressed, thereby indicating that mindfulness meditation can be used proactively, not just reactively.
  • A longitudinal study to determine the long-term benefits of mindfulness meditation. For example, are the structural changes in the brain permanent after participating in a mindfulness meditation course, or are they temporary? If they are temporary, how long do they last? This type of information would allow us to determine more specific criteria –  like a “prescription”  – in terms of how often people should participate in a program, and if they need to make it a life-long routine versus something they can do temporarily to alleviate a specific condition.
  • In addition, studies that indicate whether or not children can benefit from participating at an early age, as well as those designed around other demographic criteria, would be beneficial to aid in the clinical setting.
  • Finally, I would like to understand the differences associated with participating in mindfulness meditation in a group setting versus individual practice.

Credit for The Mindfulness Researchers…

Britta K. Hölzela, James Carmodyc, Mark Vangela, Christina Congletona, Sita M. Yerramsettia, Tim Garda,b, Sara W. Lazar

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With: Meditation, Mindfulness, psychology

Neural Degeneration, Regeneration & Reorganization

03/19/2011 by 3icreative

Neural degeneration

Anterograde & Retrograde Neuron Degeneration
Any time there is damage to the cell body, the result is cell death. If there is damage to the axon, death is not certain.

  • Anterograde degeneration – Breakdown of an axon from the point of damage back toward the terminal button
  • Retrograde degeneration – Breakdown of an axon from the point of damage back toward the cell body
  • Chromatolysis – Retrograde degeneration can spread toward cell body
  • Transneuronal degeneration – Spreads to neighboring cells

Neuron regeneration

What kind of recovery can we expect? Neuron regeneration will occur in the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS), but not the CNS (brain and spinal cord). And in the PNS, even if neurons do regenerate, there is no guarantee that they will connect. Just because the potential is there, it does not mean that things will “hook up” correctly.

Why no regeneration in the Central Nervous System?

  • No glycoproteins – Growth-promoting glycoproteins are present in the PNS only.
    • Laminin and fibronectin – Necessary for development of growth cone/neuron
    • Oligodendrocytes – Glycoproteins that inhibit growth are present in the CNS. Remember, oligodendrocytes are a type of CNS glial cell responsible for forming myelin sheath. Schwann cells do this in the PNS.

This is seen in transplant studies. When you transplant a PNS cells to the CNS, they do not regrow. When you transplant CNS cells to PNS, they can regrow. Therefore, the ability for these cells to regenerate is dependent on the cellular environment.

Brilliant Blue G

Studies have found that Brilliant Blue G dye (found in M&Ms) may be beneficial in reducing inflammation, swelling and the formation of scar tissue following a spinal cord injury, allowing more time for treatments. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of Brilliant Blue G is that it turns you blue, as seen in this rat. Testing is still in progress to determine if this treatment can be used effectively in humans.

Spinal cord research

Lesions on spinal cord… Looking for drugs that encourage regeneration by neutralizing growth-inhibiting proteins (MAG and No-Go). Today, we are able to recover some functions, but they are reflexive in nature and happen at the level of the spinal cord, not the brain. For example, increases in stride length versus limb placement (picking up a limb in response to sensory input). This is demonstrated when a paraplegic’s body’s is suspended (body weight supported) and placed on a treadmill using Lokomat system. This activates a reflex as if you are falling, causing you to step forward. With practice, this can be refined, so steps do not appear so robotic. Today, advances in technology have led to robotic exoskeletons that make it possible for some paraplegics to walk again. A sensor is placed on the body that reads signals from the brain transmitted to the nerves, that then activate the exoskeleton to move as desired.

Neural reorganization

Collateral sprouting is when a neighboring cell and move in and form new cell connections, fill vacant cell receptor sites. You see things like Mirror Box Treatments for Phantom Limb Pain, the visual input allows people to feel relaxation. The parts of the brain that process the missing limb are still being activated, where are they getting their information from?

Filed Under: Psychology Tagged With: Brain, psychology

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