By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 1, 2010 

A provocative new study suggests too much sleep, or not enough sleep, influences how long a person will live.

In a novel research design, researchers from the University of California, San Diego discovered that less than five hours of sleep a night is probably not enough, and eight hours of sleep is probably too much.

A team of scientists, headed by Daniel F. Kripke, MD, revisited original research conducted between 1995 and 1999.

In that earlier study, part of the Women’s Health Initiative, Kripke and colleagues had monitored 459 women living in San Diego (ranging in age from 50 to 81) to determine if sleep duration could be associated with mortality.

Fourteen years later, they returned to see who was still alive and well.

Of the original participants, 444 were located and evaluated. Eighty-six women had died. Previous studies, based upon questionnaires of people’s sleep habits, had posited that sleeping 6.5 to 7.5 hours per night was associated with best survival.

Kripke and colleagues, whose 1990s research had used wrist activity monitors to record sleep durations, essentially confirmed those findings, but with a twist.

“The surprise was that when sleep was measured objectively, the best survival was observed among women who slept 5 to 6.5 hours,” Kripke said.

“Women who slept less than five hours a night or more than 6.5 hours were less likely to be alive at the 14-year followup.”

The findings are published online in the journal Sleep Medicine.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/01/secret-to-long-life-just-enough-sleep/19036.html

 

 

The laryngoscopy. From García, 1884

Annals of Ordinary and Extraordinary Genius

by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein

 

We blog a lot about the fact that creative people are often polymaths, talented at many things. The 19th century singer Manuel García illustrates how such multiple talents can result in surprising and unexpected discoveries – even in science!

Imagine the pressure of being born into a family that included three of the most famous singers of the 19th century. The strain on young Manuel García must have been immense. His mother, Joaquina Sitchès, sang in an opera company with his father, Manuel del Populo Vincent García, who was Rossini’s favorite tenor. The elder García was also the foremost voice teacher in Europe. He trained two of his daughters, who both became world renowned: María Felicia (who is remembered as “La Malibran”) and Pauline Ferdinande Viardot-García. The young García was also groomed to become a professional singer, but had neither the desire nor the talent to compete with the rest of his family. So in 1830, he ran away from home and joined the French army as a medical orderly.

Medicine captured young García’s imagination. He hung around the surgical wards and the pathologist’s dissection tables. He was particularly interested in anything to do with the larynx, or what many people call the “voice box.” Convinced that his father’s teaching methods had ruined his voice, García believed that the more he understood about the vocal chords, the more he would understand how to sing without pain and frustration.

When García’s family lured him back home a year or so later, convincing him to join their school as a voice teacher, his fascination with the anatomy and physiology of the larynx persisted. He began experimenting with animal windpipes collected from butcher shops and slaughter houses. He brought his specimens home to perform anatomical dissections and enlisted his now quite famous sister Pauline Viardot in helping with experiments as well. Viardot would insert a bellows into the lower end of the trachea while García manipulated the larynx in order to determine how different types of sounds were generated. As Viardot later commented, “You would have imagined that these [experiments] would have disgusted me. But it was not so. He would give me a pair of bellows, which I would insert in these windpipes, one after the other, and blow hard. Heavens! What extraordinary sounds they used to emit” (Mackinlay, 100). García used the results of his studies to experiment with his own voice and then began applying what he was learning from these experiments to his teaching.

About this time, the elder García died, leaving his world-famous music school in the hands of his rebellious son. Surprisingly, García the younger not only kept up the reputation of the school, but actually increased its importance by training a second generation of singers who went on to dominate operatic singing around the world.

But this success alone was not enough for García. While dissecting his animal windpipes, he had conceived a passion to view his own vocal chords as he was singing and to test out his teaching methods while actually practicing them. The task seemed impossible. Physicians had been trying for nearly a century to view the larynx of a living patient without success. Sticking a tube large enough to shine a light down someone’s throat would cause them to gag or vomit. Pushing a mirror to the back of the throat didn’t work either, because the larynx is a few inches down the trachea, hiding in the dark. One needed to shine a light down the throat, too, which necessitated the use of a tongue depressor. Sticking a mirror and a tongue depressor into a patient’s throat wasn’t any better than forcing a tube into it. Many physicians considered the problem insoluble.

Garcia viewing his own larynx

García was not to be put off. One day, in September of 1854, he was walking along the Palais Royale in Paris when a flash of sunlight off a window inspired the idea of using sunlight directed off a mirror to illuminate the back of the throat. There would be enough reflected light to illuminate the larynx as well. It immediately struck García that he would require a second mirror placed at the back of the throat in such a position as to reflect the image of the vocal cords back out of his mouth. Obtaining a hand-held mirror to reflect sunlight into mouth was easy, but where was he to obtain a very small mirror placed at the correct angle at the end of a handle long enough to reach the back of his throat? As a result of his earlier anatomical experimentation, García knew where to look for this second mirror, and serendipity smiled a second time: “I went straight to Charriere, the [Parisian] surgical instrument maker, and asking if he happened to possess a small mirror with a long handle, was informed that he had a little dentist’s mirror which had been one of the failures of the London Exhibition in I85I. I bought it for 6 francs” (Kernan, 616).

The rest is medical history, as García became the first person to ever see live vocal chords as they were making sound. In his own words, “I placed against the uvula the little mirror which I had heated in warm water and carefully dried, then flashing upon its surface with a hand mirror a ray of sunlight, I saw at once to my great joy, the glottis open before me, and so fully exposed that I could perceive a portion of the trachea. When my excitement had subsided, I began to examine what was passing before my eyes. The glottis silently opening and shutting and moving in action and phonation filled me with wonder and admiration….” (Kernan, 616).

Read in Full:  http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/imagine/201009/can-singer-make-scientific-discovery-the-case-manuel-garc

 

Manuel Garcia (Biography & Free Download of Music):

http://www.harmonicorde.com/Manuel Garcia (1775-1832).html

 

Article Date: 01 Oct 2010 – 0:00 PDT

Many researchers have studied the relationship between the increase in sales of new antidepressants in recent decades and a simultaneous decline in the suicide rate. In a study based on figures from the Nordic countries, researchers at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found no evidence that increased sales of the new medicines could be linked to a lower suicide rate. The researchers also did not find any relationship between reduced sales of the older and more toxic antidepressants and a reduction in suicide rates.

The suicide rate has been declining since the end of the 1980s in many Western countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Around 1990, the new SSRI drugs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) became available on the market. Sales figures for these new antidepressant drugs have increased annually, whereas sales of the older TCA drugs (tricyclic anti-depressants) have declined substantially. TCA drugs are associated with a risk of poisoning with overdose.

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/203018.php

 

Middle-Age Suicide On the Rise

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 28, 2010 

A new analysis shows a significant rise in suicide rates among middle-aged people.

Sociologists Ellen Idler of Emory and Julie Phillips of Rutgers University paint baby boomers as the driving force behind the new development.

Their report is found in the journal Public Health Reports.

“The findings are disturbing, because they’re a reversal of a long-standing trend,” Idler says.

The suicide rate for the U.S. population overall has been declining for decades, Idler notes. And people aged 40-59, in particular, have long had a moderate suicide rate.

The baby boomers, people born between 1945 and 1964, have broken that pattern. By 2000, most people aged 40 to 59 were baby boomers and the suicide rate started climbing steadily for these middle-age ranges.

The authors found significant increases of more than 2 percent per year for men, and more than 3 percent per year for women, from 1999 to 2005. (By 2005, all middle-aged people were baby boomers.)

The post-1999 increase has been particularly dramatic for those who are unmarried and those without a college degree, the analysis showed. For example, from 2000 to 2005, the suicide rate jumped nearly 30 percent for men and women aged 50 to 59 with some college but no degree. Middle-aged people with a college degree appeared largely protected from the trend.

The baby boomers also experienced higher suicide rates during their adolescence and young adulthood, doubling the rate for those age groups at the time. Their suicide rate then declined slightly and stabilized, before beginning to increase again in midlife.

Read in Full: http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/28/middle-age-suicide-on-the-rise/18824.html

 

Article Date: 01 Oct 2010 – 3:00 PDT

AstraZeneca UK is delighted to announce that it has received UK approval for Seroquel XL(R) (quetiapine prolonged release) as an add-on treatment of major depressive episodes in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) who have had sub-optimal response to antidepressant monotherapy. Prior to initiating treatment, clinicians should consider the safety profile of quetiapine prolonged release. The decision follows the European Commission approval earlier this month.

According to the Depression Alliance one in five people will have depression at some point in their life[i], and MDD is the leading cause of suicide particularly in people who have not received adequate treatment for their symptoms[ii]. As up to 50% of people who suffer from MDD do not respond to first-line antidepressant treatment[iii], add-on treatments are regularly used to manage this serious condition and are included in national guidelines[iv],[v]. The new indication for quetiapine prolonged release will therefore potentially benefit such people who have failed to respond to first-line treatment and who require additional therapy.

“Depression is an important public-health problem which has been shown to have a greater negative effect on health than angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes[vi]”, said Stuart Montgomery, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry. “Effective medicines are a cornerstone of management for people with depression, and this new indication for quetiapine prolonged release provides healthcare professionals with a new option of add-on therapy when considering how best to treat inadequately responding MDD. This can only be good news for people who suffer from this serious and common condition.”

Read in Full:  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/203153.php

 

Image: Psychosis Progression by Louis Wain

(Most of his life Louis lived in seclusion with 5 spinster sisters and 17 cats.)

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on October 1, 2010 

Researchers are hopeful that emerging research linking psychosis to an abnormal relationship between two signaling chemicals in the brain may lead to a new approach to preventing psychotic symptoms.

The finding could lead to better drugs for schizophrenia, one of the most common severe mental health conditions.

Sufferers experience symptoms of psychosis — an inability to distinguish between reality and imagination — such as hallucinations and delusions. The condition tends to begin in the late teens or 20s, and usually persists for the rest of the sufferer’s life.

Brain chemicals called neurotransmitters carry signals from one nerve cell to another. Research has linked schizophrenia with abnormally high levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in a region of the brain called the striatum.

Drugs currently used to treat schizophrenia block the effects of dopamine in the brain. These drugs are not effective for all patients, and can have serious side effects.

Read in Full:  http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/10/01/lab-discovery-could-lead-to-new-meds-for-psychosis/19028.html

 

 

Ohio State University have created a fantastic interactive web application where you play the part of a neurosurgeon operating on a patient who needs a deep brain stimulation device installed to treat their Parkinson’s disease.

When I first loaded it up and saw the cartoon-like style I thought it would just be a bit of eye-candy but it turns out to be quite a detailed guide to exactly how this sort of surgery is undertaken.

It’s great if you’re just curious, as there’s plenty to learn about the procedure, but even if you’re a neuroscience fanatic there are questions throughout the demo that allow you to flex your problem-solving skills.

Read in Full:  http://mindhacks.com/2010/09/28/neurosurgery-simulated/

 

October 1, 2010

Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized in the past.

A new study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found mild traits, not strong enough to provoke a diagnosis of autism, seem to be present in the siblings of affected children at significantly higher rates than seen in the general population. The findings appear online and will be published in the November issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry.

“Mild symptoms, called quantitative traits, may be confounding studies that compare children with autism to their siblings,” says first author John N. Constantino, MD. “Researchers presume one child is affected, and the other is not, but our findings suggest that although one child may have autism while the other does not, it’s very possible both children are affected to some degree by genes that contribute to autism.”

Genetic factors exert their influence in different ways. Some families have only a single child with autism and no other affected children. But in other families, more than one child may be affected, or other siblings may have a number of autism characteristics.

The study found that approximately one in five siblings thought to be unaffected experienced language delays or speech problems early in life. The researchers also noticed many female siblings had subtle traits, but few had full-blown autism spectrum disorders. Boys are thought to be affected four times more often than girls. But when the researchers used standardized methods to account for the presence of quantitative traits, the rate looked more like three affected boys for every two affected girls.

“The gender difference may not be as pronounced as we once thought it was,” Constantino says. “If we rely only on a professional diagnosis of autism to determine who is affected, then boys vastly outnumber girls. But it may be that many girls are being missed.”

Read in Full:  http://www.physorg.com/news205144257.html

September 30th, 2010 12:56 pm ET

Brooke Dunbar

U.S Department of Health and Human Services announced today the contribution of $1.87 million to The Arc of the United States, the largest non-profit advocacy organization in the U.S. committed to helping those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.  The money is intended to go towards a national resource and information center to provide information about Autism and other developmental disabilities. 

The new information center will provide families with information and resources in their own communities. There is also the plan to create national networking – including internet-based networking, sponsoring regional events, and assisting community based organizations with training and technical assistance.

…

The Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and Self Advocates Becoming Empowered will partner with The Arc in this initiative.  The official name will be: Autism NOW: The National Autism Resource and Information Center.

Read in Full:  http://www.examiner.com/parenting-politics-in-national/hhs-gives-1-87-million-towards-establishing-national-autism-resource-center

 

ScienceDaily (Sep. 29, 2010) — Playing white noise in class can help inattentive children learn. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Behavioral and Brain Functions tested the effect of the meaningless random noise on a group of 51 schoolchildren, finding that although it hindered the ability of those who normally pay attention, it improved the memory of those that had difficulties in paying attention.

Göran Söderlund from Stockholm University, Sweden, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the experiments at a secondary school in Norway. He said, “There was significant improvement in performance for the children rated as inattentive by their teachers, and a significant decline in performance for those rated as attentive as noise levels were increased. This finding could have practical applications offering non-invasive and non-pharmacological help to improve school results in children with attentional problems.”

Read in Full:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100928193445.htm