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Archive for January 12th, 2011

First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009


Director's Chair

Reporter: Barclay Pollak
Email Address: bpollak@nbc15.com

Posted Thursday, February 19th, 2009 –10:10pm


Drew Goldsmith isn’t even a teenager yet.


He’s already directed and produced a few films.


He’s also developed a loyal following on You Tube.


What makes this more impressive is the fact that he’s autistic.


Like many directors he’s anxious to see how his film will be received.


He skips the afternoon press conference because he wants to be here.


In the theater.


With the people.


For 12-year old Drew Goldsmith this is his big debut in Wisconsin at the Beloit International film festival.


That’s his mom.


She’s there by her son’s side at every film festival.


She has to be.


Not only is her son a pre-teen he’s also autistic.


Morton Gernsbacher says, ” There are soccer moms and swimming moms and gymnastics moms and I am very lucky because I get to be a film festival mom.”


Autism is what inspired the Madison native to make this 10-minute short film “Treasure Diversity.”


Gernsbacher says, ” He wanted to tell the world how important it is to accept diversity.”


Goldsmith has gotten a lot more than acceptance at this year’s film festival.


” It’s perfect in its imperfections. “


Rod Beaudoin is the festival’s Executive Director.


He says Goldsmith’s movie moved him before he even knew his story.


After he found out Goldsmith had autism and was only 12 years old, it blew him away.


” There is a magic to this film that caused me to think differently about people and about life.”


This isn’t Goldsmith’s first film festival and judging by the response his film has gotten, it won’t be his last.


Goldsmith made what’s known as a “compilation documentary.”


In other words, it relies on footage that’s already been shot.


I asked Goldsmith’s mother how her son made the movie.


She says all he used was a laptop and the editing software that was already on it.


Source(Includes Video):   http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/39889412.html



First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009


Teen Suicide

Certain circumstances may predict suicidal thinking or behavior among teens with treatment-resistant major depression who are undergoing second-step treatment, according to an analysis of data from an National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded study. The study will be published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.


In the Treatment of SSRI-resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA) study, 334 teens who did not get well after taking a type of antidepressant called a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) before the trial were randomly assigned to one of four treatments for 12 weeks:


  • *Switch to another SSRI
  • *Switch to venlafaxine (Effexor), a different type of antidepressant
  • *Switch to another SSRI and add cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), a type of psychotherapy
  • *Switch to venlafaxine and add CBT

Results of the trial were previously reported in February 2008. They showed that teens who received combination therapy, with either type of antidepressant, were more likely to get well than those on medication alone.


Using data from spontaneous reports by the participants and from systematic assessment by clinicians, David Brent, MD, of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and colleagues aimed to identify characteristics or circumstances that may predict whether a teen is likely to have suicidal thoughts or behavior during treatment. Nearly 60 percent of TORDIA participants had suicidal thinking or behavior at the beginning of the trial.


Fifty-eight suicidal events-which include serious suicidal thinking or a recent suicide attempt-occurred in 48 participants during the trial, most of which happened early in the trial. The researchers found that teens who had higher levels of suicidal thinking, higher levels of parent-child conflict, and who used drugs or alcohol at the trial’s beginning were more likely to experience a suicidal event during treatment and less likely to respond to treatment. They were also less likely to have completed treatment.


These new data may contribute to developing more targeted and individualized interventions.” said NIMH co-author Benedetto Vitiello, MD “If we can know which teens may be more susceptible to suicidal thinking and behavior, we are better able to tailor safer treatments for them.


No statistically significant differences in suicidal events or non-suicidal self-injury were found among the treatment options. However, the use of venlafaxine was associated with a higher rate of self-injury in participants who had more severe suicidal thinking at the trial’s beginning. These results suggest that SSRIs are preferred over venlafaxine in the treatment of depressed teens who are at risk for suicidal thinking or behavior, according to the researchers.


Although CBT was found to have a protective effect over the long-term among teens with depression in the NIMH-funded Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS), it did not appear to reduce the rate of suicidal events in TORDIA. The researchers theorize that because the suicidal events tended to occur soon after treatment began, the CBT did not have enough time to deliver a protective affect.


Finally, Brent and colleagues found that the use of anti-anxiety medications called benzodiazepines was associated with a higher likelihood of, and faster time to, a suicidal event-an unexpected result not found in other similar studies. The researchers theorize that participants who were taking a benzodiazepine in addition to an antidepressant may have been much more severely ill and therefore may have been more prone to suicidal thoughts or behavior. But more study is warranted on the potential role of anti-anxiety medications in suicidal thinking and actions among patients also taking an antidepressant.


Because the suicidal events tended to happen early in the treatment process, interventions that address safety, emotion regulation and family conflict should be some of the first to be implemented,” concluded Dr Brent. “With this data, we are in a better position to design future interventions that could lessen the risks of suicide even further among this vulnerable population.


Brent D, Emslie G, Clark G, et al. Predictors of spontaneous and systematically assessed suicidal adverse events in the Treatment of SSRI-resistant Depression in Adolescents (TORDIA) study. Am J Psychiatry 2009 Feb; doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08070976   [Abstract]

Childhood Anxiety, Anti-Social Behaviour May Predict Depression


Joel Schwarz


depression

Past behavior is generally considered to be a good predictor of future behavior, but new research indicates that may not be the case in the development of depression, particularly among adolescent girls.


University of Washington social scientists tracked first- and second-graders for seven years and found that anti-social behavior among girls and anxiety among both sexes predicted depression in early adolescence. Surprisingly, early signs of depression were not predictive of adolescent depression.


Anti-social behavior has typically been viewed as a big problem among boys, so it tends to be ignored among girls. Boys with early anti-social behavior typically go on to show more anti-social behavior while girls may turn inward with symptoms, morphing into other mental health problems such as depression eating disorders, anxiety and suicidal behavior during adolescence,” said James Mazza, a UW professor of educational psychology and lead author of the new study. He is currently serving as the past president of the American Association of Suicidology.


When all the risk factors were analyzed, anti-social behavior and anxiety were the most predictive of later depression. It just may be that they are more prevalent in the early elementary school years than depression.” He noted that depression and anxiety share a number of symptoms.


Mazza said that early adolescence is when the first episode of depression typically occurs and that’s when it has been noted that gender difference occur, with more girls than boys experiencing depressive symptoms. Children can be assessed at 6 and 7 years of age, but depression is not often recognized or diagnosed until the middle school years.


Children in this study were drawn from a larger project looking at the risks for health and behavior problems. That project was conducted by the university’s Social Development Research Group, with which Mazza is affiliated. More than 800 children participated in the depression study. Eighty-one percent were white and 54 percent were boys.


Data were collected annually from the children and their parents and teachers when the children were in the first or second grade. The children filled out surveys that measured their levels of depression, anxiety and anti-social behavior, as well as other measures that were not investigated in this study. Parents and teachers filled out questionnaires about the children’s anti-social behavior and social competency, which measured such things as the youngsters’ abilities to understand other people’s feeling, to make new friends and resolve conflicts. Teachers also rated each child’s academic performance. In addition, parents filled out questionnaires concerning family and marital conflict, family stress and parental depression.


One finding from this study that is a mind-grabber is that young children can identify themselves as being anxious and depressed,” said Mazza. “When they had scores that were elevated we were a bit surprised because we thought they would say, ‘My life is fun and I play a lot.’ But they are able to understand and report feeling depressed or anxious, and tell us so. This suggests giving health surveys in early elementary school is a good idea and we should talk to kids in the first and second grades because they can give us valuable information.


The research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.


Mazza JJ, Abbott RD, Fleming CB, et al. Early Predictors of Adolescent Depression: A 7-Year Longitudinal Study. J Early Adolesc. 2009; doi:10.1177/0272431608324193   [Abstract]



First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009


Alice Umoh

Brenda Ahearn/The Gazette  Alice Umoh, a sixth-grader at Oaklands Elementary School, with her comic book on Feb. 9 in Laurel. Alice has been writing and drawing comics since she was in second grade.


by Timmy Gelles | Staff Writer


Alice Umoh’s parents said when she began drawing comics by herself instead of socializing in second grade, they thought it was just a temporary phase. But a year later, Alice was still just as shy.


When they took her to a doctor, they found out why. At age 9 she was diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder that impairs communication and social skills.


Because she does not socialize, her father, Raymond Ekpedeme, said she makes drawing her passion and devotes most of her time to it.


Alice, 12, has drawn countless notebooks worth of comics about dogs, cats and dragons. The results are evident in the detail in the number of story lines and distinctiveness of each character in her comics.


One of her comics about dragons – her favorite drawing subject – is available for check-out from the school’s library, replete with trading cards about the various dragon characters in the story.


“They’re not real but I bring them to life by drawing them,” Alice said.


Her comics even attracted the attention of her teachers at Oaklands Elementary in South Laurel, after transferring there from Fairland Elementary in Silver Spring this school year.


“In all my of my years teaching I have never seen a student as talented as Alice in the art of drawing and writing,” Oaklands education specialist Jacqueline Jones said. “Whatever she writes, she follows it through in great detail.”


Oaklands art teacher Mario Bloomfield agreed.


“She’s definitely one of the better students I’ve had the privilege to work with,” he said.


Alice said she gets a lot of her ideas from television, particularly programs abut animals and story lines from comedy shows.


“Then I organize [my comics] into a story I can tell to people,” she said.


Her ability and prolific comics caught the attention of Bloomfield, who encouraged her to submit a piece to the county school’s annual Youth Art Month Exhibition that begins in March.


Bloomfield said he recommended Alice sketch a falcon – Oaklands’ mascot – in her typical cartoon outline and then color it in with brown oil pastel. After Alice submitted it, he was so impressed he thinks it will win some accolades.


Alice’s parents are also impressed.


“Some of the drawings and some of the stories shock me for a child that age to be able to do that,” her mother, Ekaete Nkanja, said.


To help with her story structuring, Ekpedeme, said that anytime they see a cartoon movie together, he tells her to pay attention to how the story evolves and how the different characters come together.


“She’s been making improvements from early on when she first started,” he said of her work.


Ekpedeme said a family trip to Disney World a few years ago and an animation studio to see how cartoons are created sparked Alice’s interest in becoming a professional cartoonist.


“She was very interested in the behind-the-scenes look at cartoon movies,” he said. “That really inspired her more.”


E-mail Timmy Gelles at tgelles@gazette.net.


Source:   http://www.gazette.net/stories/02192009/collnew172506_32478.shtml



First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009

By Seth Stratton
The Dispatch


Published: Friday, February 20, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 5:26 p.m.

SILVER VALLEY | Four days a week, Chad Norman arrives at Silver Valley Elementary School with a smile, eager to offer his help. And though his autism causes him to see and hear things in a different way, his extra ears and eyes are a big help to students, teachers and staff.


For the past two school years, Chad and his mother, Linda Norman, have been the most loyal – and often only – volunteers at the elementary school. Chad sorts papers, empties trash cans, provides the day’s lunch count to the cafeteria for a classroom and operates a stopwatch for a “math lab” program timing students on how fast they can finish arithmetic problems.


His latest project has been to code all the books by reading level and genre in Connie Collins’ fourth-grade classroom and Tammy Everhart’s fifth-grade classroom. Chad looks the books up online, then separates them into tubs so students can more easily find what they’re looking for. With his help, Everhart is able to spend more one-on-one time with students, which has translated to better scores on test days.


“Twenty-two to one is not a good ratio when you’re trying to help everybody,” Everhart said. “It’s a bonus to us. It frees up the (teacher’s assistants) to then work with the small groups, too.”


Born and raised in Davidson County, Chad, 23, graduated from South Davidson High School with an occupational diploma in 2003. When he was in kindergarten at Denton Elementary School, Beth Ligon, now a third-grade teacher at the school, could tell Chad was special. He learned the alphabet out of order, instead learning his consonants and vowels from watching “Wheel of Fortune,” and could subtract double-digit numbers from each other but couldn’t add one plus one. After just one week in class, he was diagnosed as being autistic.


Chad was placed in the school’s exceptional children’s program but excelled and was mainstreamed back into regular classrooms in fifth grade. He never failed any classes in high school, but he could not pass the end-of-grade tests and was put on the occupational prep career course. He thrived in high school, becoming friends with nearly everyone. He was voted “Most School Spirit” during the senior superlatives program.


Now, he’s known as Mr. Silver Valley.


“He’s had such a positive influence on every student in the school,” Everhart said.


He and his mother arrive about 10 each morning to Everhart’s classroom. Linda has a workspace, and Chad has his own desk he can retreat to if he becomes too stressed out or needs to get off his feet: He just had foot surgery Monday on a toe that was bothering him. They eat lunch at the school and stay until about 3 p.m. Linda helps grade papers, and Chad does whatever is asked of him, but he’ll speak up if there’s something he doesn’t think he can do.


Chad was a fixture at The Denton Orator for years where Linda worked as an editor. He logged more than 5,000 hours at the small weekly publication, folding papers, typing, taking photos and doing whatever else was needed. He even received recognition for his service by former Gov. Mike Easley a couple of years ago, but he said its just something that runs in his blood.


“My mom and my grandma taught me how to help other people,” Chad said.


Dot Bailey is Chad’s “mamaw” and an active member of the county’s senior community. She was crowned Ms. Senior Davidson County in 2000, and Chad rode with her in a parade. She and Chad spend time together cooking, and Chad helps his grandmother thread needles for the quilts she sews. Bailey sells quilts and donates proceeds to area charities and donated one to the Silver Valley Parent Teacher Organization’s fundraiser last year.


Each night, Chad and his grandmother call each other to talk about their days. Chad sometimes visits and volunteers with his grandmother and other past Ms. Senior Davidson County winners. Whenever they hold events, they make sure to invite “Prince Chad,” their affectionate title for him.


After Linda suffered a severe blood clot in her leg, which she passed through her heart in 2002, she was confined to her home to rest. She still suffers from some of the effects today and cannot lift or stoop but during her recovery at home, she became bored and depressed. While at home, Chad helps do all the heavy lifting and also assists teachers in bringing items from the parking lot to the classroom.


“Chad and I do everything together,” Linda said. “He’s a mama’s boy.”


A couple of years ago, her doctor suggested she volunteer at a school. Chad decided he wanted to help, too, but not at Denton Elementary or South Davidson Middle or High: He wanted to go somewhere he wasn’t known to challenge himself. He’s grown to know each child by name and roster number, and he’s even set up a MySpace.com Web page that he uses to communicate with students after school. He hates to see students not complete their homework and wants to see them all succeed.


Chad was a little nervous about volunteering when he first started last school year but quickly became comfortable with Everhart. He was unsure when last year’s principal left, and Kim Loflin was instituted as the new principal, but Loflin knew Chad during her days as the SDHS cheerleading coach. Now, he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.


“If I left here, those two right there would be sad people,” Chad said, pointing to Everhart and Stanley Bradley, the other fifth-grade teacher at Silver Valley.


Linda and her husband, Charles, a custodian at Davis-Townsend Elementary School, were not able to have any children after Chad, so the couple decided to adopt three more boys, Matt, Steven and Chris.


Linda and Chad are longtime supporters of the University of North Carolina athletics. They try to make it to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s women’s basketball tournament each season. Last year, as UNC was coming off the court after a win, Linda said Erlana Larkins, a standout player, saw Chad in the stands and blew him a kiss.


“We never let his autism keep him from trying anything,” Linda said. “We’re very proud parents … He just has a good heart.”


Seth Stratton can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 226, or seth.stratton@the-dispatch.com.


Source:   http://www.the-dispatch.com/article/20090220/articles/902200304&tc=yahoo



First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009


Writing, dealing with emotions...

Writing about a distressing or upsetting experience can help to reduce stress by changing the way the brain deals with negative emotions, new research suggests.


The act of putting feelings into words is often cathartic because it helps the brain to control regions where emotions such as fear and disgust are processed, scientists have discovered.


The findings, from a research team led by Matthew Lieberman, of the University of California, Los Angeles, suggest that one of the main motivations for writing and verbal expression, from keeping a diary to composing poetry, is the way such activity brings peace of mind and relieves stress.


“I think that the benefits of putting feelings into words is one of the indirect motivations for many of the words that get written,” Dr Lieberman told the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Chicago. “When people sit down to write they may not know exactly why, but there seems to be this benefit.”


The research could also be medically useful, as it suggests that writing therapy could help people suffering from psychological conditions such as social anxiety disorder, phobias or post-traumatic stress.


“We do think it has clinical implications,” Dr Lieberman said. “We’ve done some work looking at complementing an exposure therapy, for people who are high in spider fear. If you have people actually expressing their negative responses in words while they’re being exposed, you see greater attenuation over time.”


The brain’s catharsis centre is a region called the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which lies next to the right temple. When this is activated, it suppresses activity in the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the brain’s deep-lying limbic system, which processes negative emotions such as fear.


Brain scans using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have shown that the act of writing about distressing experiences, or even thinking about expressing them in words, can activate the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which then controls these negative feelings.


“The question I get interested in is why it seems to help people emotionally when they put feelings into words, whether it’s in therapy, writing a diary or journal, or poetry,” Dr Lieberman said. “Our hypothesis is this is an unintentional form of emotion regulation. The way we’ve approached this is by looking at the brain, because if you ask people they don’t think that putting feelings into words serves much of a regulatory function. But when you look at the brain it looks a whole lot like emotion regulation is going on when people put emotions into words.


“We see this pattern again and again. What it boils down to is the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, which seems to be involved in all different forms of self-control and self-regulation. It appears that if you get this region activated, even if you’re not trying to get it activated, it still has regulatory consequences. Putting feelings into words is one of the things that turns this region on, and therefore has regulatory benefits.


“The more that region is activated, the less activity you see in limbic regions that are involved in emotional processing, so you’ll see less activity in the amygdala than you would otherwise see to these emotional images. There seems to be a see-saw effect. The more prefrontal activation you see the less the amygdala responds.”


The researchers have yet to conduct experiments on people who keep diaries, but Dr Lieberman said that this was likely to be another way in which people activate the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and thus control their negative thoughts.


“It’s certainly one of the inspirations,” he said. “I think that diaries probably serve as a form of daily regulation for those individuals. I would caution, though, that it probably depends on the way in which you write about these feelings. Our suspicion is that it’s probably more effective to the extent you use more abstract language, rather than truly vivid emotional language that might be reactivating the negative experience.


“We’re also working with a psychologist to look at social anxiety disorder, to see if cognitive behavioural therapy and acceptance-based therapy leads to changes in which they recruit this regulatory region when they respond to threatening situations.”


Source:   http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5739285.ece


Putting Feelings into Words

Putting Feelings Into Words May Have Therapeutic Benefits


Why does putting our feelings into words – talking with a therapist or friend, writing in a journal – help us to feel better? A new brain imaging study by UCLA psychologists reveals why verbalizing our feelings makes our sadness, anger and pain less intense.


Another study, with the same participants and three of the same members of the research team, combines modern neuroscience with ancient Buddhist teachings to provide the first neural evidence for why “mindfulness” – the ability to live in the present moment, without distraction – seems to produce a variety of health benefits.


When people see a photograph of an angry or fearful face, they have increased activity in the brain’s fear center the amygdalas, which serves as an alarm to activate a cascade of biological systems to protect the body in times of danger. Scientists see a robust amygdala response even when they show such emotional photographs subliminally, so fast a person can’t even see them.


But does seeing an angry face and simply calling it an angry face change our brain response? The answer is yes, according to Matthew D. Lieberman, UCLA associate professor of psychology and a founder of social cognitive neuroscience.


When you attach the word ‘angry,’ you see a decreased response in the amygdala,” said Lieberman, lead author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Psychological Science.


The study showed that while the amygdala was less active when an individual labeled the feeling, another region of the brain was more active: the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. This region is located behind the forehead and eyes and has been associated with thinking in words about emotional experiences. It has also been implicated in inhibiting behavior and processing emotions, but exactly what it contributes has not been known.


What we’re suggesting is when you start thinking in words about your emotions – labeling emotions – that might be part of what the right ventrolateral region is responsible for,” Lieberman said.


If a friend or loved one is sad or angry, getting the person to talk or write may have benefits beyond whatever actual insights are gained. These effects are likely to be modest, however, Lieberman said.


We typically think of language processing in the left side of the brain; however, this effect was occurring only in this one region, on the right side of the brain,” he said. “It’s rare to see only one region of the brain responsive to a high-level process like labeling emotions.


Many people are not likely to realize why putting their feelings into words is helpful.


If you ask people who are really sad why they are writing in a journal, they are not likely to say it’s because they think this is a way to make themselves feel better,” Lieberman said. “People don’t do this to intentionally overcome their negative feelings; it just seems to have that effect. Popular psychology says when you’re feeling down, just pick yourself up, but the world doesn’t work that way. If you know you’re trying to pick yourself up, it usually doesn’t work – self-deception is difficult. Because labeling your feelings doesn’t require you to want to feel better, it doesn’t have this problem.


When you attach the word ‘angry,’ you see a decreased response in the amygdala,” Lieberman said. “When you attach the name ‘Harry,’ you don’t see the reduction in the amygdala response.


When you put feelings into words, you’re activating this prefrontal region and seeing a reduced response in the amygdala,” he said. “In the same way you hit the brake when you’re driving when you see a yellow light, when you put feelings into words, you seem to be hitting the brakes on your emotional responses.


As a result, an individual may feel less angry or less sad.


This is ancient wisdom,” Lieberman said. “Putting our feelings into words helps us heal better. If a friend is sad and we can get them to talk about it, that probably will make them feel better.


The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex undergoes much of its development during a child’s preteen and teenage years. It is possible that interaction with friends and family during these years could shape the strength of this brain region’s response, but this is not yet established, Lieberman said.


One benefit of therapy may be to strengthen this brain region. Does therapy lead to physiological changes in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex” Lieberman, UCLA psychology professor Michelle Craske and their colleagues are studying this question.


Thirty people, 18 women and 12 men between ages of 18 and 36, participated in Lieberman’s study at UCLA’s Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. They viewed images of individuals making different emotional expressions. Below the picture of the face they either saw two words, such as “angry” and “fearful,” and chose which emotion described the face, or they saw two names, such as “Harry” and “Sally,” and chose the gender-appropriate name that matched the face.


After the participants left the brain scanner, 27 of them filled out questionnaires about “mindfulness.” Mindfulness meditation, which is very popular in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, originates from early Buddhist teachings dating back some 2,500 years, said David Creswell, a research scientist with the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.


Mindfulness is a technique in which one pays attention to his or her present emotions, thoughts and body sensations, such as breathing, without passing judgment or reacting. An individual simply releases his thoughts and “lets it go.”


One way to practice mindfulness meditation and pay attention to present-moment experiences is to label your emotions by saying, for example, ‘I’m feeling angry right now’ or ‘I’m feeling a lot of stress right now’ or ‘this is joy’ or whatever the emotion is,” said Creswell, lead author of the study, which will be featured in an upcoming issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, a leading health psychology research journal.


Thinking, ‘this is anger’ is what we do in this study, where people look at an angry face and say, ‘this is anger,’” Lieberman noted.


Creswell said Lieberman has now shown in a series of studies that simply labeling emotions turns down the amygdala alarm center response in the brain that triggers negative feelings.


Creswell, who conducted the mindfulness research as an advanced graduate student of psychology at UCLA, said mindfulness meditation is a “potent and powerful therapy that has been helping people for thousands of years.


Previous studies have shown that mindfulness meditation is effective in reducing a variety of chronic pain conditions, skin disease, stress-related health conditions and a variety of other ailments, he said. Creswell and his UCLA colleagues – Lieberman, Eisenberger and Way – found that during the labeling of emotions, the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was activated, which seems to turn down activity in the amygdala. They then compared participants’ responses on the mindfulness questionnaire with the results of the labeling study.


We found the more mindful you are, the more activation you have in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and the less activation you have in the amygdala,” Creswell said. “We also saw activation in widespread centers of the prefrontal cortex for people who are high in mindfulness. This suggests people who are more mindful bring all sorts of prefrontal resources to turn down the amygdala. These findings may help explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation, and suggest, for the first time, an underlying reason why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health.


The right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex can turn down the emotional response you get when you feel angry,” he said. “This moves us forward in beginning to understand the benefits of mindfulness meditation. For the first time, we’re now applying scientific principles to try to understand how mindfulness works.


This is such an exciting study because it brings together the Buddha’s teachings – more than 2,500 years ago, he talked about the benefits of labeling your experience – with modern neuroscience,” Creswell said. “Now, for the first time since those teachings, we have shown there is actually a neurological reason for doing mindfulness meditation. Our findings are consistent with what mindfulness meditation teachers have taught for thousands of years.


The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.


Lieberman MD, Eisenberger NI, Crockett MJ, et al.
Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli
Psychol Sci. 2007 May;18(5):421-8.   [Abstract]



First Published Saturday, 21 February 2009


Increase in the number of new patients being admitted to mental health centers for symptoms of stress and anxiety


psychological stress

Last month economists finally confirmed something many people already knew; the U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007.


The ongoing financial crisis may be causing additional stress and anxiety during the winter months when frigid temperatures, long periods of darkness and the after effects of stress-inducing holidays can lead people to feel profound sadness. Additionally, with the record number of Americans who are losing their jobs each month, it is hard for anyone to feel secure. These factors combined with the uncertainty of government leaders about how long the crisis will last – or what it will take to turn the economy around – can only exacerbate people’s feelings of uneasiness.


Sometimes referred to as the “winter blues,” people’s deepening feelings of anxiousness can often spread to the entire family. Marital fights flare up as spouses argue about overdue holiday bills and couples ask themselves “What do we do now?” Hearing parents argue and sensing family tension can trigger mental health disorders in children.


A recent poll conducted by the American Psychological Association found that almost half of all adults said they are increasingly stressed about their ability to provide for their family’s basic needs. In fact, about 8 out of 10 adults said that the economy is a significant cause of stress, up from 66 percent in April.


The state of the economy is affecting mental health jobs as well. The National Council advocates for policies that ensure that people who are ill can access services. However, tough times are forcing states to reevaluate their allocation of funds. Often times this leads to mental health associations and care centers losing funding. This timing is unfortunate as community mental health centers nationwide have seen an upsurge in the number of new patients in recent months.


The loss of jobs and benefits is very stressful, so we are seeing more people facing depression, anxiety and psycho-somatic illnesses,” said Janice Wilson, CEO of the NorthShore Health Centers in Portage, IN, where 75 percent of new patients in recent weeks are being referred for conditions related to job loss or the worsening economy.


The Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center in Waterloo, IA is expecting a 25 percent increase in the number of new mental health patients this year compared to last year. While some of the new cases are people with psychiatric conditions caused by a string of recent disasters in the area, others are people suffering from anxiety and depression brought on by the economic downturn.


To help cope with what appears to be a long-term economic downturn, people can follow some simple guidelines:


  • *Focus on positive aspects of your life. Look to family and friends to support you.
  • *Exercise, maintain a healthy diet and a normal sleep schedule — physical and mental health are connected.
  • *Plan for the future as much as you can. The more action you can take, the more in control you’ll be and the less stressed you’ll feel.
  • *Try to take a long view. Realize that it may be bad yesterday, it may be bad today, but that things over time will get better.
  • *Volunteer and look for ways to answer the needs of your local community. Helping others will take your mind off your own worries and give you a sense of accomplishment.
  • *Take charge of your immediate environment. If you’re troubled by media coverage and conversations about the worsening economy, change channels, turn the page, or excuse yourself from the conversation.


If sadness and anxiety begin to adversely affect normal functioning – relationships, work, sleep, appetite and sex — professional help may be needed. Community mental health providers around the country can be located through the “Find a Provider” feature on the National Council’s web site www.TheNationalCouncil.org.



First Published Monday, 23 February 2009

Research may open doors to entirely new types of treatments for conditions ranging from addiction to schizophrenia


Tracey DePellegrin Connelly


neurotransmitter reuptake

Researchers have known for decades that the brain has a remarkable ability to “reprogram” itself to compensate for problems such as traumatic injury. Now, a research article published in the February 2009 issue of the journal Genetics suggests that the brain may also be able to compensate for problems with key neuro transmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. This finding may open the doors to entirely new lines of research and treatments for a wide range of brain disorders, including addiction, depression, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.


David Krantz, Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and Anne Simon, now an Assistant Professor at York College of the City University of New York were the two lead investigators on the study. “Illnesses such as depression, addiction, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease devastate millions of lives each year. Current treatment strategies often fail and remain poorly understood,” said Krantz. “In our research, we have discovered a simple way to identify the functional changes that may be associated with these illnesses and to research new drugs.


To reach this conclusion, Krantz, Simon and colleagues bred fruit flies with what should have been a devastating, life-threatening mutation in the vesicular monoamine transporter gene. This mutation caused their brain cells to be unable to release monoamine neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Fruit flies were used in the study because they are convenient for genetic experiments and have a set of neurotransmitters that is nearly identical to that of humans. And as is the case with humans, monoamine neurotransmitters are considered necessary for the fly to function normally.


The researchers observed that although the mutant fruit flies crawled less as larvae and were infertile as adults, they lived and were surprisingly healthy in many respects. This suggests that there is at least one neurological mechanism that helps them compensate for the lack of monoamine neurotransmitters. The next step is to identify the specific changes that take place in their brains to determine how much of this might be applicable to humans.


We see this over and over: humans are not so different from the other animals,” said Mark Johnston, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Genetics. “By studying simple organisms like the fruit fly, we learn fundamental things about our makeup, even organs as complex as the brain.



Simon AF, Daniels R, Romero-Calderón R, et al. Drosophila Vesicular Monoamine Transporter Mutants Can Adapt to Reduced or Eliminated Vesicular Stores of Dopamine and Serotonin. Genetics (2009) 181:525-541 [Abstract]



First Published Monday, 23 February 2009

Colin Smith


SNP

A handheld device to predict whether patients will respond adversely to medication is one step closer to the market, thanks to a new partnership announced today.


Imperial College London (ICL) and its spinout company DNA Electronics have developed a prototype healthcare device that assesses whether patients are genetically predisposed to suffering adverse reactions to prescription drugs. They are now carrying out trials to test its effectiveness, thanks to a new partnership with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.


Each year, billions are spent worldwide to treat patients suffering adverse reactions to prescribed medication. These reactions can vary in severity, from dizziness and nausea to heart palpitations or unconsciousness.


A test to identify people likely to react badly to prescribed medication such as antidepressants or cholesterol lowering drugs could enable doctors to tailor dosages and medications to the individual needs of each patient.


The device undergoing trials is the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Doctor, or SNP Dr (pronounced ‘snip doctor’). It is a portable technology that gives fast accurate spot test results for specific DNA sequences that indicate how we are likely to respond to certain drugs.


The SNP Dr works by analysing genetic variations found in DNA called Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). SNPs are the parts of human DNA that make us all respond differently to disease, bacteria, viruses, toxins or medication.


In particular, researchers are exploring how the SNP Dr might detect genetic sequences linked with metabolism. A slow metabolism can make drugs stay in the body longer, causing adverse side effects, while a fast metabolism can process medication too quickly for it to have any effect.


The SNP Dr works by analysing the DNA in saliva or cheek swab samples, which are placed in a cartridge and exposed to the silicon chip sensors inside the device. A copy of the fast or slow metabolic SNPs is contained in the chip. If they detect a match, a message is displayed on the SNP Dr’s console. Doctors can then assess their patient in their office, without a lengthy and costly laboratory analysis, and prescribe dosages and treatments accordingly.


Nothing can replace the expert advice your GP gives you. However, the SNP Dr could provide another layer in the treatment process that could help GPs to personalise treatments according to the genetic requirements of each patient,” Professor Chris Toumazou FRS, principal investigator at Imperial, says.


Dr Leila Shepherd, Chief Technology Officer of DNA Electronics adds that the introduction of the SNP Dr into doctors’ offices could also pave the way for new types of drugs to reach patients in the future. “At the moment, some cancer fighting drugs are deemed uneconomical because they only work for a certain subset of patients. If doctors had a method of screening patients to see whether these drugs work, then suddenly these therapies would be more cost effective to use.


The £1.2 million project is part-funded by the British Government’s Technology and Strategy Board. The partnership will see Imperial and DNA Electronics providing the scientific and product development team with Pfizer providing expertise on SNPs, clinical samples, pharmaceutical sector knowledge and feedback as a potential end user of the product.



First Published Monday, 23 February 2009

Freddie & School Staff

Freddie Buckner with school staff Mark Porch, back left, Tendayi Marumani, his mum Suzanne and Terry Mckenzie


By Chine Mbubaegbu
February 20, 2009


A mum won her battle to get her autistic son into the school she built for him – but now faces the challenge of filling the other places.


Suzanne Buckner, a businesswoman from Three Mile Cross, spent more than a year and around £600,000 building a school for her eight-year-old son Freddie, who suffers from learning difficulties including autism and dyslexia.


Freddie is a ‘statemented’ child, which means the council has to provide funding for a school which it feels meets his special educational needs.


She had hoped her son would be able to attend Freddies Reading, but came up against stiff challenges from Wokingham Borough Council which had chosen to only fund Freddie through Westfield School in High Wycombe.


The local authority had said this school was better suited to Freddie than the one his mum created in South Street, Central Reading.


But following months of angst, and £15,000 legal fees, Mrs Buckner has finally got the go-ahead to get council funding to teach her son at Freddies Reading, following a meeting with the local authority on January 22.


Mrs Buckner said: “After much pushing from every direction, finally Wokingham Borough Council said they will let Freddie go to the school.”


Freddie has been unofficially taught at the school over the past few months and Mrs Buckner said she is already starting to see improvements in his learning.


She said: “This is a child that just couldn’t go to school because he was consistently excluded. Since he has been taught at Freddies over the past four months, we haven’t had a single incident of him misbehaving.”


But Mrs Buckner now faces a new challenge of getting other children with similar special educational needs to fill the empty seats.


She said: “There are many other children out there who need a school like Freddies and their parents don’t know how to navigate the system.


“There is a sense of relief that Freddie can now go there – but at what cost?


“Right now I need to get Freddies in Reading up and running and help other children and parents in similar situations.”


Andrea Jenkins, a spokeswoman for Wokingham Borough Council, said it would not comment on individual cases.


Source:  http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/education/s/2045548_mum_wins_fight_for_school_place_for_freddie


Related Article


Reading Evening Post  “Education For All Freddies”:

http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/reading_evening_post_education_for_all_freddies.htm



First Published Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

A4 Update 2009 (January), Vol 7. No. 1


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