


Archive for January, 2011
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 14, 2010Â
A common antibiotic often prescribed to treat adolescent acne has been found to decrease anxiety and also increase attention spans and communication skills in patients with fragile X syndrome, according to a new survey study by the University of California-Davis MIND Institute.
Fragile X is the most commonly inherited type of mental impairment. One third of all children with this syndrome will develop autism, and about five percent of children with an autism spectrum disorder have fragile X.  Fragile X is estimated to affect 1 in 3,600 males and 1 in 4,000 females.
The syndrome presents itself in a variety of disabilities, from learning disorders to mild to severe intellectual impairment (mental retardation) as well as in emotional and behavioral problems. It may also include certain physical characteristics, such as having larger ears or more flexible finger joints, with symptoms usually more severe in boys.
For the study, a total of 53 participants (three of these dropped out after a few days because of side effects), ranging in age from 4 months to 25 years,  took minocycline between two weeks and 20 months, with dosages of 25 to 200 milligrams per day.  Parents recorded their children’s overall responses to the drug.
After the participants were treated with minocycline for an average of three months, parents reported improvements in the children’s use of language, attention levels and behavior, all while having mostly mild side effects.  Results included the following:  Fifty-four percent reported improvements in language use, 50 percent reported an improvement in attention span, 44 percent reported an improvement in social communication and 30 percent reported a decrease in anxiety levels.   Most parents said their children experienced mild side effects, such as an upset stomach.
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September 15, 2010
People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are thought to have a specific profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses—difficulties appreciating others’ thoughts and feelings, problems regulating and controlling their behavior, and an enhanced ability to perceive details—but few studies have tracked children’s cognitive skills over time. Now new longitudinal research provides clues that can inform our understanding of ASD.
“Parents and clinicians already know that the behavioral signs of ASD wax and wane throughout development,” notes Elizabeth Pellicano, senior lecturer of autism education at the Institute of Education in London, who carried out the study. “What we know a lot less about is how the cognitive skills of children with ASD change over time. In this study, we found that these skills vary from child to child, and also that some of them can improve over time.”
The research, which was conducted in Western Australia, appears in the September/October 2010 issue of the journal Child Development.
The cognitive strengths and weaknesses typically exhibited by people with ASD include difficulties predicting others’ behavior based on their thoughts and feelings (so-called theory of mind) and problems regulating and controlling their behavior (termed executive function), combined with an aptitude for detecting parts of objects or small details (also called weak central coherence).
The study assessed 37 children with ASD and 31 typically developing children when they were 5 to 6 years old and again three years later. The researcher explored children’s theory of mind by asking children to watch a series of social interactions on video and predict a character’s behavior based on his or her mental state. She tested children’s executive function by having them take part in problem-solving tasks that required them to plan ahead and show flexibility. And she assessed children’s central coherence by asking them to construct patterns from wooden blocks and search for shapes hidden in pictures.
On the whole, Pellicano found, children with ASD exhibited the same profile that’s typically associated with ASD, both at the start of the study and three years later. But a closer look at individual children’s patterns of performance revealed that not all children with ASD displayed the same profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Instead, the profiles of cognitive skills varied from one child to the next: For example, while one child with ASD showed difficulties in theory of mind alone, another child showed problems in theory of mind plus executive function.
Furthermore, although previous research has reported little change over time in theory of mind and executive function skills of children with ASD, this study found that most of the children’s skills in these areas improved considerably over time: Most of the children had better appreciation of others’ thoughts and feelings, and they were better able to plan, regulate, and control their thoughts and actions over the study’s three years.
“These findings are encouraging,” notes Pellicano. “They stress the importance of understanding the breadth of cognitive skills—a set of weaknesses and strengths—in children with ASD, and how these skills progress over time. A key question for the future is whether there are approaches that can facilitate progress in some of these areas.”
Provided by Society for Research in Child Development (news : web)
 
September 13, 2010
Maybe Study Number Ten will suffice to reassure the one in four parents who have come to fear vaccinating their babies that doing so will not raise the likelihood of the kids’ developing autism. Then again, maybe no number of costly and carefully designed and executed studies will dislodge the fear of vaccines among parents that has taken root in the United States.
We’ll see.
But on Tuesday, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics–called Pediatrics–released Study Number Ten anyway. In it, 14 authors tasked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate any link between vaccines containing thimerosal–a mercury-containing preservative–and autism-spectrum disorders found no link whatever.
They found none, whether a baby was exposed to a thimerosal-containing vaccine while in utero or whether he or she was vaccinated with such an agent in the first 20 months of life. In fact–and this is a bit perplexing–they found that babies vaccinated with more thimerosal-containing vaccines between birth and seven months, as well as those who got more such vaccinations between birth and 20 months, were less likely to develop an autism-spectrum disorder than those who did not.
To see the march of evidence discrediting the widely believed link between thimerosol and autism, you can check here. To see the charges by British medical authorities that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who first alleged a thimerosal-autism link, conducted his research dishonestly and irresponsibly, see here. If it doesn’t help to know that reputable scientists, physicians and researchers have tried and failed to find a causal–or any–link between thimerosal and autism, it might help to know that even Jenny McCarthy, the actress who has been unswervingly vocal in her belief that vaccines caused her son’s autism diagnosis, is no longer so certain.
–Melissa Healy/The Los Angeles Times
Source:Â http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/13/news/la-heb-thimerosal-autism-20100913
 
Polgar’s all-knowing, all-seeing act had been mesmerizing audiences in American towns large and small for several years. But that night it was his turn to be dazzled, when he met the couple’s older son, Donald, who was then 18. Oddly distant, uninterested in conversation, and awkward in his movements, Donald nevertheless possessed a few advanced faculties of his own, including a flawless ability to name musical notes as they were played on a piano and a genius for multiplying numbers in his head. Polgar tossed out “87 times 23,” and Donald, with his eyes closed and not a hint of hesitation, correctly answered “2,001.”
Indeed, Donald was something of a local legend. Even people in neighboring towns had heard of the Forest teenager who’d calculated the number of bricks in the facade of the high school — the very building in which Polgar would be performing — merely by glancing at it.
According to family lore, Polgar put on his show and then, after taking his final bows, approached his hosts with a proposal: that they let him bring Donald with him on the road, as part of his act.
Donald’s parents were taken aback. “My mother,” recalls Donald’s brother, Oliver, “was not at all interested.” For one, things were finally going well for Donald, after a difficult start in life. “She explained to [Polgar] that he was in school, he had to keep going to classes,” Oliver says. He couldn’t simply drop everything for a run at show business, especially not when he had college in his sights.
But there was also, whether they spoke this aloud to their guest or not, the sheer indignity of what Polgar was proposing. Donald’s being odd, his parents could not undo; his being made an oddity of, they could, and would, prevent. The offer was politely but firmly declined.
Read in Full(Includes Video):Â http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/autisms-child-donald-gray-triplett-person-diagnosed/story?id=11632605
 
By Jessica Y. Lilly
September 14, 2010 · For those in Southern West Virginia reminders of the funny guy from the deserted island can be found through the work of his widow and a unique radio station.
Five years ago this month actor Bob Denver passed away but his legacy lives on in the hearts of fans around the world.
Little Buddy radio hit the airwaves in the Princeton/Bluefield area in 2004. The station plays mostly oldies and is sprinkled with the voice of Bob Denver himself.
While he was alive, his voice promoted local companies with his wife Drema. Those tuning in can still hear his voice.
Dreama says Bob was a very private person but the the radio station is a personal legacy. She says it also helped to bring healing after losing her husband.
“I didn’t know what to do with myself and honestly I didn’t know if I’d survive it,” she said. “That sounds dramatic but my family everyone who knew me was really concerned because I didn’t really want to live without him. I didn’t know how I would do that. I had Little Buddy Radio to submerse myself in.”
The radio station is nonprofit, owned and operated by the Denver Foundation. Bob and Dreama because their son is autistic and they wanted to help West Virginia families in similar circumstances.
“His last legacy, the radio station and the foundation, he left that to West Virginia,†she said. “I mean that’s the most personal thing he had and he left it to this area because he loved it here and he wanted to help families here.â€
Dreama can also be heard on her station, promoting things she says West Virginians should be proud of.
Dreama grew up in Bluefield. While the couple lived in several different cities across the U.S., it was Bob’s idea to move to the mountain state.
Bob and Dreama lived on top of a mountain in Princeton. She says he enjoyed waking up and looking at the rolling hills around him. He showed his love for the state through his involvement and investment into the area.
Steven Jarvis works at the Concord University Bookstore and remembers seeing Denver at several school events.
“He started making some appearances at Homecoming some local events you could see him he was really out and about everywhere,†Jarvis said. “He really became almost a legacy to this area. With Little Buddy radio I still listen to it.â€
“It’s just a nice little thing to know that he cared so much about southern West Virginia and he was able to help and he continues to help long after he passed away.â€
Carolyn Cox has lived in Southern West Virginia for more than 30 years. She says she remembers being very young during Denver’s role as Maynard G. Krebs on the show “The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis.†Like so many Americans, she remembers Denver as Gilligan.
“I think the fact that he valued the community, of course he came with his wife she was from this area,†Cox said, “but he valued the community in that he was willing to he came back he wanted to live here, establish his radio station and live here the last years of his life.â€
Read in Full:Â http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=16645
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“Bob Denver 1935-2005”:
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“Bob Denver, TV’s Gilligan, dead at 70”:

Bob Denver & Alan Hale

1964: Gilligan (Bob Denver, R) schemes to capture a Japanese sailor (Vito Scotti) who doesn’t know the war is over in a scene from CBS Televison’s “Gilligan’s Island.”

Cast of Gilligan’s Island

Gilligan’s Island Cake(Coconut Cream Pie)
http://debbiedoescakes.blogspot.com/2010/03/all-about-board.html#uds-search-results

“Honeybees”, Gilligan’s Island

 ca. 1964-1967 — From left to right, sex-kitten Ginger (Tina Louise), girl-next-door Mary Ann (Dawn Wells), and millionairess Mrs. Howell (Natalie Schaefer) in a scene from the 1960s television comedy .

Gilligan’s Island 1966

Bob Denver in “For Those Who Think Young”
 
Article Date: 14 Sep 2010 – 0:00 PDT
The association between psychotic disorders and living in urban areas appears to be a reflection of increased social fragmentation present within cities, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“There is a substantial worldwide variation in incidence rates of schizophrenia,” the authors write as background in the article. “The clearest geographic pattern within this distribution of rates is that urban areas have a higher incidence of schizophrenia than rural areas.” Characteristics of neighborhoods that have been associated with an increased risk of developing psychosis include population and ethnic density, deprivation and social fragmentation or reduced social capital and cohesion.
To examine whether individual, school or area characteristics are associated with psychosis and can explain the association with urbanicity (the quality of being urban), Stanley Zammit, Ph.D., of Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, and colleagues studied a total of 203,829 individuals living in Sweden, with data at the individual, school, municipality and county levels.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/200885.php
 
Article Date: 14 Sep 2010 – 1:00 PDT
Patients with early-stage schizophrenia who receive a combination of medication and a psychosocial intervention appear less likely to discontinue treatment or relapse-and may have improved insight, quality of life and social functioning-than those taking medication alone, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Antipsychotic drugs are the mainstay of therapy for patients with schizophrenia, but long-term therapy is associated with adverse effects and poor adherence, according to background information in the article. “Most patients, even those with a good response to medication, continue to experience disabling residual symptoms, impaired social and occupational functioning and a high rate of relapse,” the authors write. “Adding psychosocial treatment may produce greater improvements in functional outcome than does medication treatment alone.”
Xiaofeng Guo, M.D., and Jinguo Zhai, M.D., of Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Hunan, China, and colleagues evaluated this combination of therapies in 1,268 patients with early-stage schizophrenia treated from Jan. 1, 2005, through Oct. 31, 2007. A total of 633 were randomly assigned to receive pharmacotherapy plus a psychosocial intervention involving 48 one-hour group sessions. The intervention included four evidence-based practices: psychoeducation (instruction for families and caregivers about mental illness), family intervention (teaching coping and socializing skills), skills training and cognitive behavioral therapy. The other 635 patients received medication alone.
Rates of treatment discontinuation or change were 32.8 percent in the combined treatment group, compared with 46.8 percent in the medication-only group. The risk of relapse was lower among patients in the combination group, occurring in 14.6 percent of patients in that group and 22.5 percent of patients in the medication-only group.
The combined treatment group also exhibited greater improvements in insight, social functioning, activities of daily living and on four domains of quality of life, and a significantly higher proportion of them were employed or received education. There were no significant differences in either frequency or type of adverse events between the groups.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/200886.php
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What Is Paranoid Schizophrenia? What Causes Paranoid Schizophrenia?
23 Jun 2010
Paranoid schizophrenia is a schizophrenia subtype in which the patient has false beliefs (delusions) that somebody or some people are plotting against them or members of their family…
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What Is Schizoaffective Disorder? What Causes Schizoaffective Disorder?
02 Jun 2010
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What Is Catatonic Schizophrenia? What Causes Catatonic Schizophrenia?
19 Jun 2010
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Discovery Of Gene Linked To Schizophrenia
14 Apr 2010
What Is Childhood Schizophrenia? What Causes Childhood Schizophrenia?
17 Jun 2010
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 14, 2010Â
Is it hard for you to make decisions? Perhaps you should play video games. A new study reveals the training helps people to make the right decisions faster.
Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester found that video game players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them.
Critically, this benefit doesn’t just make them better at playing video games, but improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town.
In an upcoming study in the journal Current Biology, authors Daphne Bavelier, Alexandre Pouget, and C. Shawn Green report that video games could provide a potent training regimen for speeding up reactions in many types of real-life situations.
Video games have grown in popularity to the point where 68 percent of American households have members that play them, according to a 2009 report by the Entertainment Software Association.
The researchers tested dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds who were not ordinarily video game players. They split the subjects into two groups. One group played 50 hours of the fast-paced action video games “Call of Duty 2″ and “Unreal Tournament,†and the other group played 50 hours of the slow-moving strategy game “The Sims 2.â€
After this training period, all of the subjects were asked to make quick decisions in several tasks designed by the researchers.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/14/video-games-help-improve-decision-making/18122.html
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 14, 2010
Emerging research improves the understanding of brain mechanisms that allow us to make choices — a finding that will advance treatments for the millions of people who suffer from the effects of anxiety disorders.
In the study, University of Colorado at Boulder psychology Professor Yuko Munakata and her research colleagues found that “neural inhibition,†a process that occurs when one nerve cell suppresses activity in another, is a critical aspect in our ability to make choices.
“The breakthrough here is that this helps us clarify the question of what is happening in the brain when we make choices, like when we choose our words,†Munakata said.
“Understanding more about how we make choices, how the brain is doing this and what the mechanisms are, could allow scientists to develop new treatments for things such as anxiety disorders.â€
Researchers have long struggled to determine why people with anxiety can be paralyzed when it comes to decision-making involving many potential options. Munakata believes the reason is that people with anxiety have decreased neural inhibition in their brain, which leads to difficulty making choices.
“A lot of the pieces have been there,†she said.
“What’s new in this work is bringing all of this together to say here’s how we can fit all of these pieces of information together in a coherent framework explaining why it’s especially hard for people with anxiety to make decisions and why it links to neural inhibitors.â€
A paper on the findings titled “Neural inhibition enables selection during language processing†appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In the study, researchers tested the idea that neural inhibition in the brain plays a big role in decision-making by creating a computer model of the brain called a neural network simulation.
“We found that if we increased the amount of inhibition in this simulated brain then our system got much better at making hard choices,†said Hannah Snyder, a psychology graduate student who worked with Munakata on the study.
“If we decreased inhibition in the brain, then the simulation had much more trouble making choices.â€
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/14/better-treatment-of-anxiety-disorder/18126.html
 
We trawl the world’s journals so you don’t have to:
Extended mind (Cognitive Systems Research). From the editorial: ‘The extended mind literature cuts across a bewildering smorgasbord of (often overlapping) and even incompatible … research interests collectively known as “situated cognition†… and includes distributed cognition, embodied cognition, enactive cognition, and dynamic cognition’.
Disasters and their impact on child development (Child Development).
Psychophysiological biomarkers of health (Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews).
Value of children: A concept for better understanding cross-cultural variations in fertility behavior and intergenerational relationships (Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology).
The cognitive neuroscience of consciousness (Cognitive Neuroscience).
Online interactivity: Role of technology in behavior change (Computers in Human Behaviour).
Reviews on child brain development (Neuron). Open access until October 8. Includes a review paper on the impact of technology on children.Â


