 
Article Date: 19 Jul 2010 – 5:00 PDT
The Mariani Foundation for Paediatric Neurology announces “The Neurosciences and Music – IV: Learning and Memory”, to be held in Edinburgh (Scotland, UK) from 9th to 12th June 2011. The conference is conceived as a continuation of the previous meetings on the relation between music and the neurosciences in which our foundation participated: “The Biological Foundations of Music” (New York, 2000), “The Neurosciences and Music, Mutual Interactions and Implications of Developmental Functions” (Venice, 2002), “The Neurosciences and Music – II, From Perception to Performance” (Leipzig, 2005) and “The Neurosciences and Music – III, Disorders and Plasticity”. These conferences have been highly successful and have generated enormous excitement within the music neuroscience community, among both established and newer researchers. By providing the opportunity to present new results and exchange information, the meetings have contributed substantially to the growth of new research and collaborations in the neuroscience of music and to its visibility within the broader scientific community.
The central theme of “The Neurosciences and Music – IV” will be Learning and Memory. The conference programme will also be divided into 4 subthemes: “Infants and Children”, “Adults: musicians and non musicians”, “Disabilities and aging-related issues” and “Therapy and Rehabilitation”. The conference will include Keynote Lectures, Symposia, Poster Sessions and a Workshop on child-oriented research design and new data acquisition and analysis techniques, to be held in the afternoon on 9th June. The conference will be of interest not only to neuroscientists, psychologists and students but also to clinical neurologists, clinical psychologists, therapists, music performers and educators, as well as musicologists.
Edinburgh has been selected as a most appropriate setting because of the partnership between the Mariani Foundation and the IMHSD – Institute for Music in Human and Social Development. The IMHSD was established in 2005 with the aim of bringing together music research, theory and practice from a wide range of disciplines, and with an emphasis on learning and rehabilitation. The selected dates are immediately prior to the “Edinburgh International Film Festival” (EIFF), so delegates will have the opportunity to stay on in Edinburgh to attend this event. The EIFF was one of the world’s first international film festivals, born alongside the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947, and places a longstanding emphasis upon new talent, discovery and innovation.
The “Neuromusic Community” (researchers, clinicians, musicians…) is invited to submit proposals for the Symposia. These should be organized around a specific topic related to the conference theme of Learning and Memory and in relation one of to the four subthemes of “Infants and Children”, “Adults: Musicians and Non-musicians”, “Disabilities and Aging-related Issues” or “Therapy and Rehabilitation”.. Proposals will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee and selected based on merit, interest to the research community and fit with the overall theme of the conference. Proposals should be sent by by 15th October, 2010.
Registration forms will be online from 15 October 2010. Click here for further information.
Notes:
Scientific Committee:
Katie Overy, IMHSD, Edinburgh, UK
Eckart Altenmüller, IMMM, Hannover, Germany
Giuliano Avanzini, “C. Besta” Neurological Institute, Milano, Italy
Stefan Koelsch, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
Raymond MacDonald, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK
Virginia Penhune, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Lauren Stewart, Goldsmiths University of London, UK
Barbara Tillmann, CNRS-UMR 5020 and EBRAMUS, Lyon, France
Sandra Trehub, University of Toronto, Canada
Robert Turner, Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Leipzig, Germany
Scientific Advisors:
Isabelle Peretz, University of Montreal, BRAMS, Montreal, Canada
Robert Zatorre, McGill University, BRAMS, Montreal, Canada
Scientific Secretariat:
Luisa Lopez, Child Neurology Unit Villaggio Eugenio Litta, Grottaferrata and University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy
 
July 20, 2010
Neuroscience journal Brain has an amazing article on the history of non-drug treatments for headaches. What sounds like a dry article on the history of neurology is actually a remarkable romp through many of the most eccentric treatments in medicine.
The piece has just been published online and sadly is locked behind a paywall (keeps the riff-raff out) but here are a couple of interesting excerpts. The first, completely terrifying, the second, somewhat more calming.
To start, a scorching treatment for headache from Ancient Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia:
‘Consequently, you have to shave off the hair (which yet on its own is good for the head) and cauterize [burn] superficially down to the muscles. If you wish to cauterize down to the bone, carry it out at a site where there are no muscles. For if you burn muscles, you will provoke cramps. Some physicians incise down to the bone on the forehead along the border of the hair. They abrade or chisel the bone down to the diploe and let flesh grow over the place. Others perforate the bone down to the meninges. These are hazardous treatments. You have to apply them when the headache persists after all that has been done; the patient keeps courage and the body is vigorous’
…and relax. Needless to say, there were also some slightly more gentle treatments from times gone past (assuming you’re not a mole).
Read in Full:Â http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/07/an_eccentric_history.html
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July 20, 2010
Neuroscience journal Brain has an amazing article on the history of non-drug treatments for headaches. What sounds like a dry article on the history of neurology is actually a remarkable romp through many of the most eccentric treatments in medicine.
The piece has just been published online and sadly is locked behind a paywall (keeps the riff-raff out) but here are a couple of interesting excerpts. The first, completely terrifying, the second, somewhat more calming.
To start, a scorching treatment for headache from Ancient Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia:
‘Consequently, you have to shave off the hair (which yet on its own is good for the head) and cauterize [burn] superficially down to the muscles. If you wish to cauterize down to the bone, carry it out at a site where there are no muscles. For if you burn muscles, you will provoke cramps. Some physicians incise down to the bone on the forehead along the border of the hair. They abrade or chisel the bone down to the diploe and let flesh grow over the place. Others perforate the bone down to the meninges. These are hazardous treatments. You have to apply them when the headache persists after all that has been done; the patient keeps courage and the body is vigorous’
…and relax. Needless to say, there were also some slightly more gentle treatments from times gone past (assuming you’re not a mole).
Read in Full:Â http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/07/an_eccentric_history.html
 
If you or someone you know is confined to your home due to anxiety, fear, panic, OCD, or other issues, there may be help available to you.
A new documentary project for a major cable network wants to shed light on the severity of such illnesses as well as aid participants in their treatment process. A prominent, board certified psychiatrist will offer help to those who are ready to make a change.
If you’re interested in learning more about this project, please contact: HelpOut123@hotmail.com or call 818.382.4322
Source:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/07/20/afraid-to-leave-the-house-tv-documentary-wants-you/
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If you or someone you know is confined to your home due to anxiety, fear, panic, OCD, or other issues, there may be help available to you.
A new documentary project for a major cable network wants to shed light on the severity of such illnesses as well as aid participants in their treatment process. A prominent, board certified psychiatrist will offer help to those who are ready to make a change.
If you’re interested in learning more about this project, please contact: HelpOut123@hotmail.com or call 818.382.4322
Source:Â http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/07/20/afraid-to-leave-the-house-tv-documentary-wants-you/
 
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2010) — Regardless of culture, language, era, or individual artist, the arts consistently depict depression using darkness. Scientific findings now lend empirical support to this representation of depression that everything looks gray when you feel blue.
Researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany showed previously that people with depression have difficulty detecting black-and-white contrast differences.
Publishing a new report in Biological Psychiatry, these scientists combined neuropsychiatric and ophthalmologic investigations to focus on the response of the retina to varying black-and-white contrasts. Specifically, they measured the pattern electroretinogram, which is like an electrocardiogram (ECG) of the retina of the eye, in patients with depression and healthy individuals.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100720083258.htm
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ScienceDaily (July 20, 2010) — Regardless of culture, language, era, or individual artist, the arts consistently depict depression using darkness. Scientific findings now lend empirical support to this representation of depression that everything looks gray when you feel blue.
Researchers at the University of Freiburg in Germany showed previously that people with depression have difficulty detecting black-and-white contrast differences.
Publishing a new report in Biological Psychiatry, these scientists combined neuropsychiatric and ophthalmologic investigations to focus on the response of the retina to varying black-and-white contrasts. Specifically, they measured the pattern electroretinogram, which is like an electrocardiogram (ECG) of the retina of the eye, in patients with depression and healthy individuals.
Read in Full:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100720083258.htm
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 20, 2010
Recent research has moved closer toward being able to identify individuals at high risk for bipolar disorder while still in their teens or early adulthood.
“These findings support the notion that people who develop a first episode of mania can be identified during the prodromal phase,†writes Dr. Andreas Bechdolf of ORYGEN Youth Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who led the study with his colleagues. (A prodrome is the period of time before an illness becomes apparent, and may have some subtle signs or symptoms).
Bipolar disorder, characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania or hypomania (a milder version of mania), affects more than 20 million Americans. Most cases typically present sometime during the 20s, although doctors are becoming more aware of children with the illness.
Bechdolf and his colleagues studied records from all 173 individuals aged 15 to 24 who had intake assessments at the public clinic ORYGEN Youth Health Program in Melbourne Australia.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/20/identifying-youth-at-high-risk-for-bipolar-disorder/15805.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 20, 2010
Recent research has moved closer toward being able to identify individuals at high risk for bipolar disorder while still in their teens or early adulthood.
“These findings support the notion that people who develop a first episode of mania can be identified during the prodromal phase,†writes Dr. Andreas Bechdolf of ORYGEN Youth Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who led the study with his colleagues. (A prodrome is the period of time before an illness becomes apparent, and may have some subtle signs or symptoms).
Bipolar disorder, characterized by alternating periods of depression and mania or hypomania (a milder version of mania), affects more than 20 million Americans. Most cases typically present sometime during the 20s, although doctors are becoming more aware of children with the illness.
Bechdolf and his colleagues studied records from all 173 individuals aged 15 to 24 who had intake assessments at the public clinic ORYGEN Youth Health Program in Melbourne Australia.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/20/identifying-youth-at-high-risk-for-bipolar-disorder/15805.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 20, 2010Â
New research suggests MDMA, aka Ecstasy, in combination with psychotherapy may help individuals with treatment-resistant PTSD.
A recent clinical trial reports that MDMA can be administered to subjects with PTSD without evidence of harm.
The intervention could reduce fear responses among individuals thereby creating an environment where psychotherapy could be more beneficial.
The results of the clinical trial are published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Before MDMA became used recreationally under the street name Ecstasy, hundreds of psychiatrists and psychotherapists around the world administered MDMA as a catalyst to psychotherapy.
MDMA was criminalized in the U.S. in 1985 (it had been illegal in the UK since 1977).
Several decades later, this study is the first completed randomized, double-blinded clinical trial to evaluate MDMA as a therapeutic adjunct in any patient population.
Belmont, Mass.-based Rick Doblin, Ph.D., together with South Carolina-based psychiatrist Michael Mithoefer, MD and colleagues, conducted a pilot Phase II clinical trial with 20 patients with chronic PTSD persisting for an average of over 19 years.
Prior to enrolling in the MDMA study, subjects were required to have received, and failed to obtain relief, from both psychotherapy and psychopharmacology.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/20/therapy-plus-ecstasy-for-ptsd/15791.html
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