Men’s Preference for the Female Hourglass Figure.
In 2008, I published a paper in the International Journal of e-Collaboration wherein I had investigated the WHRs of advertised female online escorts across 48 countries (1,068 female profiles were coded). The mean advertised WHR ratio was 0.72. Incidentally, I’ve also looked at the WHRs of sex dolls of a company that specializes in the manufacturing of this particular product. The mean WHR across ten doll models was 0.68. Obviously, both of these figures (no pun intended) fall within the expected preferred range of 0.68 to 0.72.
Barnaby J. Dixson of Victoria University in New Zealand, along with several colleagues, has published two papers in the Archives of Sexual Behavior (2009) and in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology (in press) that further lend credence to the hourglass preference using highly novel data sources. In one case, Dixson et al. used an eye-tracking apparatus to capture the areas that men are most likely to look at (and the first areas that they gaze at) when exposed to frontal images of a naked woman. Six different version of the photo were created, by altering the woman’s breast size and WHR (three breast sizes and two WHRs). Not surprisingly, men focused on the breasts and the midriff, and they preferred the WHR of 0.70. In a second study, Dixson and his colleagues explored the WHRs of men in extremely remote villages in Papua New Guinea. In this case, this is a particularly relevant data set as the men in question are minimally (if at all) exposed to Western images. Hence, the notion that men’s preferences are socially constructed can be tested in a very direct manner. The men were shown photos of ten women’s bodies both preoperatively and postoperatively. The women had had a micrograft surgery that produces a more pronounced hourglass shape. The mean WHR of the ten women preoperatively was 0.80 whereas postoperatively it was 0.72. The Papua New Guinean men had a much stronger preference for the postoperative WHR of 0.72.
Finally, Steve Platek and Devendra Singh (who is the grand daddy of research on WHR) have a recent paper in PLoS wherein they imaged men’s brains as these watched images of preoperative and postoperative women (the latter having WHRs much closer to the preferred near-universal ideal of 0.70). There was greater activation in regions of the brain associated with reward processing when men viewed the postoperative photos.
Note that in the last paragraph, I used the term near-universal. This recognizes the fact that cultural contexts can alter an evolved WHR preference. For example, in environments defined by a greater likelihood of caloric uncertainty, men’s preferences shift toward a larger WHR. Hence, even in an instance where there is unequivocal evidence for an innate preference, culture still plays an important role in shaping the phenomenon in question.
Be on the lookout for my forthcoming trade book to be published by Prometheus Books next year wherein I discuss the latter studies in the context of advertising along with endless other fun and interesting facts about our innate consummatory nature.
Twitter Alert: Finally, I was advised that it would be a good idea if I were to set up a Twitter account. Frankly, I am unsure what the exact benefits of this tool are in my case but I thought that I should at least try it out and see what it leads to. Hence, to those who wish to follow me, you can do so at @GadSaad. I am likely to mainly use it to make professional announcements such as when I put up a post, or when my next book comes out etc. Please don’t expect me to be “Twittering” about the Tuna salad that I am eating, and the stormy weather outside!
The last taboo: toy boys
As Stephen Vizinczey’s era-transcending novel, ‘In Praise of Older Women’, is re-published, Celia Walden asks why older women with toy boys are still taboo.
On the red carpet at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards last month, one couple drew more attention than most. The subtle swell of her belly denoting early pregnancy, a middle-aged woman in white reached instinctively for the young man at her side. He, placing a protective hand on her lower back, stood silently by as she gave interviews. They might have been mother and son but they were lovers, soon-to-be husband and wife: they were the 42-year-old film director Sam Taylor-Wood and her 22-year-old actor fiancé Aaron Johnson. “Yikes,” one camera-woman winced, “here comes the cradle-snatcher.”
The sentiment might have been more eloquently expressed, certainly by a member of Taylor-Wood’s own sex, but older women and their boy toys have a tendency to prompt voluble – even crude – reactions. As the film director worked her way down the red carpet, birch-haired male executives with 19-year-old models on their arms ambled past, but the absurdity of those couplings passes unnoticed. Only the Older Woman, it seems, is taboo in a world where precious few remain.
Despite marrying her young boyfriend, actor Ashton Kutcher, five years ago, actress Demi Moore still provokes catty headlines for the 15-year age gap. Madonna is widely derided for her relationship with 22-year-old model Jesus Luz, as was designer Sadie Frost, who dated a succession of young men after her split from Jude Law.
Then there is 52-year-old Kim Cattrall, who was accused of playing up to her Sex and the City alter ego, Samantha, when she began a relationship with a 28-year-old chef, Alan Wyse, which – surprise, surprise, sneer the cynics – didn’t last the course. In the celebrity world a toy boy may be de rigeur, but in reality, the pairing remains as rare as it is controversial.
Literature and film would have us believe otherwise. Bergman’s Torment, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Last Picture Show, Sunset Boulevard, The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone and, of course, The Graduate, have kept young male cinema-goers titillated by the notion for years. Byron did the same in Don Juan, as did Stendhal in Scarlet and Black, and Bernard Schlink in The Reader. The dynamic has always inspired the artistic imagination, but no written account goes into as much depth as Stephen Vizinczey’s era-transcending, In Praise of Older Women, re-released this week as a Penguin Classic.
The best-selling book, which was originally published in 1965 and has sold more than five million copies worldwide, must have provoked a veritable glut of misalliances after its narrator, Andras Vajda, described in enchanting detail his discovery that the embraces of older women are infinitely preferable to those of younger girls.
“One of my chief irritations at the time was the blankness of the faces of my young girl friends,” says the young Vajda of one married lover, Maya. “But Maya’s face, with the fine lines of her 40 some years, expressed all the shades of her thoughts and emotions.”
Forty-five years after penning those lines, the Hungarian-born Vizinczey, now 76, remains ardent on the subject. “To be a young man and have a grown woman as your lover is not just sexy, it is paradise,” he says. “That’s what my novel is about. Women start at 30 and just get better.”
Putting any condemnation of the pairing down to “people hating to see other people happy,” Vizinczey lambasts the idea that women with children should no longer be sexual beings.
“If anything, a woman who has had children can be even sexier than before, because childbirth gives her a profound experience. The sexiest thing about a woman is her intelligence. The older women in the book were intelligent enough to learn from their experiences. An older woman who is an idiot is clearly inferior to an intelligent 20-year-old, but the intelligent 20-year-old will be even more interesting and exciting when she’s 40 or 60.”
Our modern day deification of youth may push an increasing amount of young men into the arms of older women, he feels. “The sex appeal of a woman has very little to do with the kind of things magazines talk about. It doesn’t have much to do with big breasts, small breasts, figure – the most important part of sex appeal is humanity, an affectionate nature, intelligence. Allure certainly has very little to do with clothes. Isn’t a woman best dressed when she is naked?”
“If you take the evolutionary argument,” agrees psychologist Oliver James, author of Affluenza, “there is a great deal more sense in a younger man being with an older woman than the other way around, because a younger man can be more vigorous and useful to the woman.”
It is a theory Germaine Greer supported in her contentious book, The Boy, a thesis on “why boys have always been the world’s pin-ups”. “Historically,” the author of The Female Eunuch explained, “older women were expected to introduce boys to the refinement and excitement of sex. They were lovers, but they were also teachers.”
Besides sex, Greer maintains, “older men sit in judgment, but boys don’t do that. They are able to admire a woman for what she has achieved.” Thirty years ago, Paul Theroux put his love of older women down to their ability to give men “something that is very nearly incomparable, the chance to complete in adulthood what was impossible to complete as a child, a blameless gift of lechery that combines the best of youth, a maturity, romance, and realism in equal parts”.
But if the appeal from the young man’s perspective is obvious, so are the pitfalls. Writer Oscar Humphries, the son of comedian Barry Humphries who enjoyed a liaison with Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon when he was 22 and she was 40, remembers assuming a submissive role in the relationship. “The first time we had dinner together in London,” he wrote at the time, “I half-heartedly reached for my overburdened Switch card when the bill arrived. I feigned hurt when she brushed it aside with her corporate Amex… Can there be equality in our relationship? Well, there is sexual equality, but, I have to admit, little else.”
A mutually enjoyable game of dominance and submission is what drives the dynamic, adds James. “But whether it is love or sex spurring on the people involved, there will always be a large measure of desire on the part of the older person for the younger, which is where the “older woman” dynamic is not straightforward, because women, on the whole, are not attracted by nubility in younger members of the opposite sex – whereas men are.”
So are these older women liberated or damaged? Where the celebrity contingent are concerned, James believes, narcissism and the search for eternal youth may play a big part, reducing the toy boy to a pick-me-up not unlike a new handbag. “There probably is something wrong with women who persist in going for very large age gaps,” he claims. “The real problem starts when the younger person grows up.”
Women in the public eye, Vizinczey shrugs, “are financially independent and therefore can defy convention, but women who cannot afford to defy convention have to do it in secret or be labelled predators, even put in jail, thanks to our puritanical laws. Predatory relationships exist, but they can exist even between people of the same age.”
So long as the relationships are fictional, it seems, we are able to enjoy them. We all regret Benjamin’s decision not to elope with Mrs Robinson, but how long would such a coupling have lasted? Not long, according to Theroux, which should mean no great sadness for either party. “The classic situation is nothing long-term; indeed, she might not particularly want to see you afterwards. The preliminaries, the half-truths, the confidences, the wooing – all these are dispensed with. There isn’t time; she comes straight to the point and then goes back to her life. She is doing what older men do to younger women.”
Vizinczey vehemently disagrees. “Most relationships don’t last, regardless of the age of the couples. Enduring relationships depend not only on the ages of the couples, but whether or not they are people on the same wavelength, which is why I think mine will go on lasting.” Because his particular older woman…? She’s Canadian, she’s called Gloria – and he’s been married to her for 45 years.
* ‘In Praise of Older Women’ by Stephen Vizinczey (Penguin Modern paperback) is available from Telegraph Books at £9.99 + 99p p&p. Call 0844 871 1515 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
Source:Â http://www.telegraph.co.uk/relationships/7360779/The-last-taboo-toy-boys.html
No Agreement on Sex?
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 5, 2010
Researchers found that no uniform consensus existed when a representative sample of people, ages 18- to 96 years old, were asked what the term meant to them.
Is oral sex considered sex? It wasn’t to around 30 percent of the study participants.
How about anal sex? For around 20 percent of the participants, no.
A surprising number of older men did not consider penile-vaginal intercourse to be sex.
More than idle gossip, the answers to questions about sex can inform — or misinform — research, medical advice and health education efforts.
“Researchers, doctors, parents, sex educators should all be very careful and not assume that their own definition of sex is shared by the person they’re talking to, be it a patient, a student, a child or study participant,†said Brandon Hill, research associate at the Kinsey Institute.
The study, conducted in conjunction with the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention in IU’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, delves deeper into a question first examined in 1999 — in the midst of a presidential sex scandal where the definition of sex was an issue.
Researchers from The Kinsey Institute asked college students what “had sex†meant to them, taking the approach, which was unique then, of polling the students on specific behaviors.
No consensus was found then, either.
The new study, published in the international health journal Sexual Health in February, examined whether more information helped clarify matters — study participants were asked about specific sexual behaviors and such qualifiers as whether orgasm was reached — and researchers also wanted to involve a more representative audience, not just college students.
“Throwing the net wider, with a more representative sample, only made it more confusing and complicated,†Hill said. “People were even less consistent across the board.”
The study involved responses from 486 Indiana residents who took part in a telephone survey conducted by the Center for Survey Research at IU.
Participants, mostly heterosexual, were asked, “Would you say you ‘had sex’ with someone if the most intimate behavior you engaged in was …,†followed by 14 behaviorally specific items.
Here are some of the results:
- *Responses did not differ significantly overall for men and women. The study involved 204 men and 282 women.
- *95 percent of respondents would consider penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI) having had sex, but this rate drops to 89 percent if there is no ejaculation.
- *81 percent considered penile-anal intercourse having had sex, with the rate dropping to 77 percent for men in the youngest age group (18-29), 50 percent for men in the oldest age group (65 and up) and 67 percent for women in the oldest age group.
- *71 percent and 73 percent considered oral contact with a partner’s genitals (OG), either performing or receiving, as having had sex.
- *Men in the youngest and oldest age groups were less likely to answer “yes†compared with the middle two age groups for when they performed OG.
- *Significantly fewer men in the oldest age group answered “yes†for PVI (77 percent).
Hill said it is common for a doctor, when seeing a patient with symptoms of sexually transmitted infections, to ask how many sexual partners the patient has or has had. The number will differ according to the patients’ definitions of sex.
William L. Yarber, RCAP’s senior director and co-author of the study, said its findings reaffirm the need to be specific about behaviors when talking about sex.
“There’s a vagueness of what sex is in our culture and media,†Yarber said.
“If people don’t consider certain behaviors sex, they might not think sexual health messages about risk pertain to them. The AIDS epidemic has forced us to be much more specific about behaviors, as far as identifying specific behaviors that put people at risk instead of just sex in general.
“But there’s still room for improvement.”
Source: Indiana University
Teens With More Screen Time Have Lower Quality Relationships
ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2010) — Teens who spend more time watching television or using computers appear to have poorer relationships with their parents and peers, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Over the past 20 years, teens have used an ever-expanding array of screen-based tools for communication and entertainment, according to background information in the article. “The availability and attractiveness of screen time activities has provoked excitement about the opportunities afforded by these options, as well as concern about whether these displace other activities that are important for health and development,” the authors write. “One area of interest is how screen time may affect the quality of relationships with family and friends.”
Rosalina Richards, Ph.D., of the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, and colleagues studied 3,043 adolescents age 14 to 15 in 2004. The teens completed a confidential questionnaire about their free-time habits, as well as an assessment of their attachment to parents and peers.
Overall, the more time teens spent watching television or playing on a computer, the more likely they were to report low attachment to parents (in other words, difficulty forming a relationship or emotional bond). The risk of having low attachment to parents increased 4 percent for every hour spent viewing television and 5 percent for every hour spent playing on a computer. Conversely, teens who spend more time reading and doing homework reported a higher level of attachment to parents.
The researchers also assessed interview responses from 976 individuals who were age 15 years in 1987 to 1988. Among these teens, more time spent viewing television was associated with lower attachment to both parents and peers. For every additional hour of television, teens had a 13 percent increased risk of low attachment to their parents and a 24 percent increased risk of low attachment to peers. “Recommendations that children watch less television are sometimes met with the concern that being unable to discuss popular shows or characters may inhibit peer relationships,” the authors write. “The findings herein do not suggest that less television viewing is detrimental to adolescent friendships.”
There are several potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between increased screen time and poorer relationships, they note. For instance, teens who have televisions in their bedroom not only spent more time watching but also may share fewer meals with family members. “However, it is also possible that adolescents with poor attachment relationships with immediate friends and family use screen-based activities to facilitate new attachment figures such as online friendships or parasocial relationships with television characters or personalities,” the authors write.
“Given the importance of attachment to parents and peers in adolescent health and development, concern about high levels of screen time among adolescents is warranted,” they conclude. “With the rapid advance of screen-based options for entertainment, communication and education, ongoing research is needed to monitor the effect that these technologies have on social development and psychological and physical well-being among adolescents.”
Journal Reference:
- 1. Rosalina Richards; Rob McGee; Sheila M. Williams; David Welch; Robert J. Hancox. Adolescent Screen Time and Attachment to Parents and Peers. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 2010; 164 (3): 258-262 [link]
Source:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100301165614.htm
 
Article Date: 04 Mar 2010 – 0:00 PST
The Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) launched its website, enhancing the Association’s ability to lead efforts to address social and emotional wellbeing and mental health in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
AIPA steering committee member Graham Gee said the site will act as a contact point and a presence for the Association, which has 40 members across Australia.
“It’s a professional meeting point for Indigenous psychologists and a vehicle for promoting Indigenous psychology to students, the Indigenous community and other psychologists, health professionals and government,” Mr Gee said.
The AIPA website will inform the public about the Association’s key aims, which includes providing leadership on issues relating to the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in having greater access to culturally safe, evidence-based psychological care that respects and promotes their cultural integrity; and promoting cultural competence training and awareness amongst non-Indigenous psychologists.
AIPA, which operates under the auspices of the Australian Psychological Society, is the national peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists in Australia. Initiated in 2008, it advocates for equitable participation of Indigenous people within psychology, with the aim of increasing the Indigenous psychology workforce to representative population levels. As Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders constitute 2.5 per cent of the Australian population, a total of 624 psychologists would be required to achieve parity within the profession.
AIPA is committed to improving the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait individuals, families and communities by working collaboratively with others to ”close the gap” in the current social and emotional and mental health inequities that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
“We hope that the AIPA website will connect us to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students around the country, so that they can see what Indigenous psychologists are about, what we do, and the kinds of possibilities and opportunities available to them if they wish to pursue a career in psychology,” said Mr Gee.
Indigenous psychologists play an important role in promoting cultural resilience, cultural revitalisation and healing programs. They see evidence-based practices and approaches to healing and therapeutic change as working alongside traditional approaches, giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as many options as possible to improve their health and wellbeing.
For further information, go here.
 
We trawl the world’s journals so you don’t have to:
Delusion and Confabulation (Cognitive Neuropsychiatry).
Formal modeling of semantic concepts (Acta Psychologica).
Silence and Memory (Memory). From the editorial: ‘As memory researchers particularly, and psychological researchers more broadly, we often focus our observations on what is present—what is expressed, what is rehearsed, what is reported. This special issue of Memory focuses on silence and its implications for memory, and also for the implications of silences that extend beyond memory, to the functioning of individuals, groups, and societies.’ Sounds intriguing.
Language, Communication and Schizophrenia (Journal of Neurolinguistics).
New Aspects in the Treatment of Affective Disorders (The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology). Open Access issue.
Article Date: 04 Mar 2010 – 0:00 PST
People who have drunk a moderate amount of alcohol before a traumatic event report more flashbacks than those who have had no alcohol, according to new research at UCL (University College London).
The results may give new insight into why some individuals develop post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a traumatic event and others do not.
Published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers also found that those who drank a large amount of alcohol before a traumatic event did not report an increase in the number of flashbacks.
“Many people who experience a personally traumatic event such as rape or a road traffic accident have consumed alcohol beforehand. For the first time, this research gives us an idea of how being under the influence of alcohol might contribute to our wellbeing later on,” said James Bisby, from UCL’s Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, who led the research.
Scientists believe that the findings can be attributed to how alcohol affects two types of memory: one that is egocentric, providing a visual ‘snapshot’ of an event, and another that stores a mental representation of the context of the event, which is independent of the person’s viewpoint.
The authors of the study suggest that contextual memory is reduced in those who experience high levels of stress and this reduction may be exaggerated in those who have had a couple of glasses of wine (around three units). This allows egocentric memories to be involuntarily re-experienced – resulting in more flashbacks. In those that have drunk seven or more units of alcohol both types of memory are disrupted leading to fewer flashbacks and an overall reduction in memory for the event.
During the study, nearly 50 participants consumed either alcohol or a placebo drink and then performed a virtual reality task designed to examine how an experienced event is stored within memory. They were then shown a video of serious road traffic accidents and recorded the number of times they spontaneously re-experienced any of the footage, i.e. had a flashback, over the following 7 days.
“People who had been given a small amount of alcohol showed reductions in memory that relies on contextual aspects of an event, whereas memory based on an egocentric representation was intact. However, those individuals given a higher dose of alcohol showed a global reduction in memory with decreases in both types of memory,” explained James Bisby.
Although the findings suggest that drinking a large amount of alcohol might result in less involuntary re-experiencing of the event due to an overall reduction in memory, the researchers are cautious in drawing this conclusion.
“When people have no memory of the traumatic event, as can happen if they consumed a large amount of alcohol beforehand, they are more likely to imagine a ‘worse case scenario.’ This alone can prove to be extremely distressing and debilitating for the individual involved. We are currently extending our findings to try and provide a clearer picture of alcohol’s ability to affect memory during trauma,” explained Professor Valerie Curran, also from the UCL Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, and a co-author of the research.
The research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The paper ‘Acute effects of alcohol on intrusive memory development and viewpoint dependence in spatial memory support a dual representation model’ is published online in Biological Psychiatry.
Source:
Clare Ryan
University College London
Jan
22
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 5, 2010Â
For many, the recession means we need to do more work. And, in today’s competitive world, not only do we have to work harder, but we also must work smarter.
New research offers us tips to help us stay at the top of our game. And the good news is there’s no need to be a “control freak.â€
With her co-author Dr. Yael Steinhart, Dr. Danit Ein-Gar is investigating multitasking control freaks. Contrary to the notion that they get the job done well, people with high levels of self-control tend to burn out the fastest.
High self-control people tend to use all of their resources at once — concentrating intently on the task immediately at hand — but are stymied when unexpected challenges are thrown their way. Dr. Ein-Gar quantified this surprising finding in a new series of studies presented last year at the Society for Consumer Psychology in San Diego.
“The general notion is that we all have a pool of resources available for different tasks,†says Dr. Ein-Gar.
“Stamina is like a muscle, but it’s not an endless resource. Our new research shows how our personal, work-related resources can be measured and our on-the-job performance improved.â€
In new experiments and surveys, Dr. Ein-Gar found that people who define themselves as high in self-control are in fact the least able to manage their own internal resources in situations which are very important to them. They burn out quickly when flooded with unexpected challenges.
“They tend to invest all their energy at once and are then left with insufficient resources for additional tasks,†says Dr. Ein-Gar, who used shopping as a way to measure the effect.
Analyzing results from hundreds of volunteers, she found that when high self-control people went shopping at a grocery store they were far more impulsive than those who defined themselves as low in self-control. Most surprisingly, high self-control people made more spontaneous purchases at the checkout counter without regard to price.
According to surveys Dr. Ein-Gar conducted afterwards, such people “didn’t foresee certain events like having to wait in line. It’s the same in the workplace when the boss hands out a major assignment moments just before quitting time.â€
But maintaining energy and avoiding burnout can be done with a little altering of one’s mindset, Dr. Ein-Gar counsels. Those who think like marathon runners — who start slow but pace themselves — are better able to keep their energy tanks full, unlike a sprinter who gives all his effort at once.
Tips for a marathon mindset
In a second study, “participants were told they were about to perform two tasks. Those with forewarning did better than a second group who thought they had only one task but then were given a ’surprise’ second task. This warning put the first group in the marathon mindset,†Dr. Ein-Gar says.
“Our results can be applied across the board from managing a business to making sure we run our personal lives more smoothly.â€
She suggests that managers prepare employees for a particularly difficult workload by alluding to upcoming challenges in advance — not on the day of the conference or big meeting.
“The world may be multitasking at a frenetic pace,†Dr. Ein-Gar concludes, “but in thinking like a marathon runner, people with high self-control won’t mind other people passing them.
“Marathon runners know that the race is long, but the winner is the one who can finish the race at the end with power left over to keep running.â€
 
ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — Angelman Syndrome is a rare but serious genetic disorder that causes a constellation of developmental problems in affected children, including mental retardation, lack of speech, and in some cases, autism. Over a decade ago, researchers found that AS was caused by mutation in a single gene, but no one had been able to explain how this defect resulted in the debilitating neurological symptoms of the disease.
New work from Michael Greenberg, chair of the department of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), provides insight into the mystery by showing that the lost enzyme, Ube3A, interacts with a key neuronal protein in order to control how environmental input shapes synaptic connections. In other words, loss of Ube3A interferes with the brain’s ability to use environmental experience to fine-tune neuronal circuits, which could explain the devastating developmental deficits that occur in AS. This suggests new targets for treating Angelman syndrome. Currently, doctors can manage some AS symptoms, but there is no treatment for the core features.
What’s more, the Ube3A gene is also mutated in some cases of autism, raising the possibility that these findings may also explain some of the problems that occur in autism spectrum disorders, which are 100 times more common than AS.
“With this work, we’ve gone from a place where we could only imagine how Ube3A might work, to being able to think about possibilities for therapeutic intervention in a disorder where until very recently there was little that could be done,” says Greenberg, Nathan Marsh Pusey professor of neurobiology at HMS.
These findings are published in the March 5 issue of Cell.
During the first few years of life, brain activity is “rewired” by external stimuli . This tweaking of neuronal connections is critical to establish normal neurological function, and is thought to go awry in a number of developmental disorders that lead to mental retardation or other cognitive problems. The new work suggests that Ube3A is a key regulator in this process, and ties the loss of Ube3A to a specific change in synaptic function.
Under normal conditions, the Ube3A enzyme tags cellular proteins for destruction. Co-ead author Paul Greer, a postdoctoral fellow in Greenberg’s lab identified the synaptic protein Arc as one of Ube3A’s targets. Arc’s primary function is to decrease neuronal signaling. However, with a mutated Ube3A, Arc accumulates to higher than normal levels, which causes an abnormal lowering of neuronal signaling, leading to impaired neuronal communication and synaptic development.
The Arc connection has revealed surprising links to other disorders, Greenberg says. In Fragile X syndrome, a major form of inherited mental retardation, neurons also have an over-abundance of Arc protein. Although the excess Arc occurs through a different mechanism independent of Ube3A, the two diseases seem to converge on a common synaptic defect. That means new treatments now under study for Fragile X may someday be useful for Angelman Syndrome, Greenberg says.
The work may also suggest additional therapeutic targets for AS. As part of the study, the researchers identified several proteins regulated by Ube3A in addition to Arc, some of which might be involved in creating the complex features of AS. “It could be that affecting Arc levels may be useful for some of the symptoms of AS, while modulating other targets will be useful for others,” Greer says. “We are hoping to identify many substrates upon which Ube3a is acting, and one can imagine doing targeted therapeutics on several of them.”
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Angelman Syndrome Foundation.
Journal Reference:
- Paul L. Greer, Rikinari Hanayama, Brenda L. Bloodgood, Alan R. Mardinly, David M. Lipton, Steven W. Flavell, Tae-Kyung Kim, Eric C. Griffith, Zacharywaldon, Rene Maehr, Hidde L. Ploegh, Shoaib Chowdhury, Paul F. Worley, Judith Steen, Michael E. Greenberg. The Angelman Syndrome-associated ubiquitin ligase Ube3A regulates synapse development by ubiquitinating Arc. Cell, 2010: 140 (5): 608-610 DOI:Â
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100304121538.htm
 
Science Daily – The first comprehensive comparative effectiveness clinical trial of three widely used anti-seizure drugs for childhood absence epilepsy — the most common form of epilepsy in kids — has established an evidence-based approach for initial drug therapy.
Published March 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine, data from the double-blind, randomized, comparative clinical trial fill a large information gap in the treatment of childhood absence epilepsy, also known as “petit mal” epilepsy. The research, which identifies important differences between drugs in seizure control and side effects, is expected to impact how physicians select and monitor initial therapy for children with the disorder and ultimately lead to improved outcomes.
“Involving 453 children, 32 U.S. medical centers and the National Institutes of Health, this landmark study establishes clinically important differences between the three medications most commonly used as initial therapy for childhood absence epilepsy,” said Tracy A. Glauser, M.D., the study’s lead investigator and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Although childhood absence epilepsy is common, the comparative efficacy and tolerability of initial therapy with ethosuximide, valproic acid or lamotrigine had not been comprehensively or rigorously assessed in patients until the current clinical trial. The study is the largest pediatric epilepsy clinical trial ever funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), of the National Institutes of Health.
“Although childhood absence epilepsy is often perceived as a benign form of epilepsy, many affected children have cognitive deficits and long-term psychosocial difficulties. This study helps physicians and families make informed choices about how to approach its treatment,” said Deborah Hirtz, M.D., a co-author of the study and a program director at NINDS.
The research team found that ethosuximide provided the best combination of seizure control and fewest attentional side effects over the initial 16- to 20-week period after starting therapy. The researchers concluded ethosuximide — one of the oldest available anti-seizure medications in the U.S. — is the “sensible choice for initial monotherapy in childhood absence epilepsy.”
Children were eligible for the study if they were between 2.5 and 13 years, had newly-diagnosed childhood absence epilepsy and were free of other medical conditions, such as autism or developmental delay. Once enrolled, children were randomly assigned to take ethosuximide (156 children), valproic acid (148) or lamotrigine (149). Children, their parents and the clinical sites were all blinded to which study medication each child was taking. Study medication doses were incrementally increased until the child was either seizure free (both clinically and by a one hour video electroencephalogram, EEG) or the child reached the maximal allowable or highest tolerated dose.
The study’s primary outcome goal was to determine the “freedom-from-failure” rate for each medication, defined as being seizure free without intolerable side effects at the 16th week of treatment. A few children who still had seizures but had not yet reached either maximum allowed or tolerated dosage at the 16th week were allowed one more dosage increase and re-evaluated at the 20th week of treatment.
The study’s secondary outcome examined how the study medications affected attentional abilities in these children. Attentional abilities were measured using the Confidence Index score from the age appropriate computerized Conners’ Continuous Performance Test. Attention dysfunction was defined a Confidence Index of 0.60 or higher. The Confidence Index provides a confidence level that suggests closeness of the match to a clinical or nonclinical profile of attention deficit. An index of 0.60 corresponds to a 60 percent probability that the child has a clinically significant attention disorder.
Of the three drugs, ethosuximide’s freedom-from-failure rate was 53 percent compared to 58 percent for valproic acid and 29 percent for lamotrigine. The freedom-from-failure rates of ethosuximide and valproic acid were similar to each other and both were significantly higher than that for lamotrigine. A significantly lower percentage of children taking ethosuximide (33 percent) had abnormal Conners’ confidence index scores compared to those taking valproic acid (49 percent). Researchers concluded that ethosuximide was preferred as initial therapy because of its improved seizure control compared to lamotrigine and fewer attentional effects compared to valproic acid.
Although the clinical trial establishes a rational evidence-based approach for initial drug therapy, the researchers are careful to point out that “even the best empirical therapy fails in almost 50 percent of newly diagnosed cases.” Also, as patients with childhood absence epilepsy grow into adolescence, they are at risk to develop tonic-clonic (“grand mal”) seizures, which are resistant to treatment by ethosuximide.
“The results of this clinical trial answer important decades old questions and raise new ones” explained Dr. Glauser, also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. “We want to know why specific patients respond differently to different drugs, how we can improve our overall rate of success with initial therapy, and whether those medications that work best in the short-term continue to be the best choice over the long-term.”
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, 45,000 children in the United States under the age of 15 develop epilepsy every year. An estimated 10 to17 percent of those cases involve childhood absence epilepsy, an epilepsy syndrome in which seizures can occur dozens to hundreds of times per day. The seizures consist of sudden loss of awareness as children stop activities and stare blankly into space for 10-30 seconds. Children suffering these seizures can be unresponsive to voice and often display flickering eyelids, lip smacking or other non-voluntary movements.
Journal Reference:
- Glauser, Tracy A., Cnaan, Avital, Shinnar, Shlomo, Hirtz, Deborah G., Dlugos, Dennis, Masur, David, Clark, Peggy O., Capparelli, Edmund V., Adamson, Peter C., the Childhood Absence Epilepsy Study Group. Ethosuximide, Valproic Acid, and Lamotrigine in Childhood Absence Epilepsy. New England Journal of Medicine, 2010; 362 (9): 790 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa0902014
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100303192432.htm
Oldest Epilepsy Drug Best for Children
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) — A landmark comparison of three drugs widely used against the most common form of childhood epilepsy finds the oldest to be the most effective.
The study of 453 children at 32 U.S. medical centers found that ethosuximide (Zarontin), one of the oldest anti-seizure medications available in the United States, is most effective at controlling what is called absence or “petit mal” epilepsy, with the fewest side effects. Valproic acid (Valproate, Depakote) came second, and the newest drug, lamotrigine (Lamictal), was third, according to a report in the March 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“This is the first real hard evidence of comparing the three most commonly used medicines, and finds one superior to the other two,” said trial leader Dr. Tracy A. Glauser, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
About 1% of American children have epilepsy, Glauser said, and 10% of those have absence epilepsy, which causes the child to stare blankly into space for periods that may be as brief as five seconds. The bad news from the study, in which the children had frequent electroencephalograms to measure brain activity, is that they also often have problems with attention, Glauser said.
“The conventional wisdom has been that if you control the seizures, that is enough,” he said. “We found that about a third of them had attention problems when they started and that they continued. These kids need to have their seizures addressed, but also need further evaluation to have their attention problems addressed.”
The study included children aged 2.5 to 13 years, newly diagnosed with epilepsy and free of other problems, such as autism. They were randomly assigned to one of the three drugs. The study measured primarily whether they were free of seizures without intolerable side effects after 16 weeks, with a few children continuing for as long as 20 weeks. The study also measured how the drugs affected the children’s ability to pay attention.
Ethosuximide prevented seizures in 53% of the children, slightly less than the 58% freedom-from-failure rate of valproic acid but significantly better than the 29% for lamotrigine. But only 33% of those taking the older drug had significant attention problems, compared to 49% of those taking valproic acid, the researchers found.
So the treatment strategy indicated by the study — and now being followed in Cincinnati — is to start with ethosuximide, Glauser said. “If it hasn’t worked after four or five months, you need to switch medicines,” he said, with a trial of valproic acid. If that doesn’t work, either lamotrigine or a combination of drugs should be used. More than 90% of children respond to one of the regimens, Glauser added.
“It was somewhat unexpected that the oldest of the drugs had as good an effect as the other and better side effects,” said study participant Dr. Shlomo Shinnar, director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Management Center at the Children’s Hospital of Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
“The study highlights the importance of looking not only at seizure control but also how the child does otherwise,” Shinnar said. “You want seizure control without side effects, such as problems with attention and behavior.”
“Unfortunately, even our best medications work only half the time,” Glauser noted. “We need to develop better medications or better algorithms to match children with medicines better.”
But with proper treatment, most children with the condition “go on to lead good, fulfilling lives,” Glauser said.
Source:Â http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=114001
Jan
22
HEADLINES
“PD: Uncle withheld food, medicine from slain 5-year-oldâ€:
“N.J. House fire traps, kills disabled father, autistic sonâ€:
“Force guilty of rape case failingsâ€:
http://www.shropshirestar.com/2010/02/25/force-guilty-of-rape-case-failings/
“School of shock under Federal investigationâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/school_of_shock_under_federal_investigation.htm
“Bus aide charged with neglectâ€:
“Boy handcuffed in rescue from stormwater drainâ€:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26800186-952,00.html
“Google execs convicted for Italy autism videoâ€:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100224/tpl-oukin-uk-italy-google-conviction-553508c.html
Documentary: Sticks and Stones “Testimonies of learning disabled abuseâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/mar/03/learning-disabled-abuse-documentary
“Disgraced MMR-scare doctor Andrew Wakefield quits US clinic he foundedâ€:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7032762.ece
UK “I need more help with autistic son … West Bridgford mum Paula Webb on Notts County Council’s children’s servicesâ€:
“Natalie Davenport fined for airport security breachâ€:
“Great expectations? The Autism Act meets hopes, misconceptions and realitiesâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/great_expectations_the_autism_act_meets_hopes_misconceptio.htm
“New autism strategy unveiledâ€:
http://www.webmd.boots.com/news/20100303/new-autism-strategy-unveiled
“More help for autistic adultsâ€:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8546264.stm
“New Autism Strategy unveiled/NAS welcomes Adult Autism Strategy for Englandâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/new_autism_strategy_unveilednas_welcomes_adult_autism_strat.htm
“Anti-bullying Bill advances in state legislature in Boston Mass.â€:
“UKAF calls for disability issues to be covered in TV Leadership Debates on ITV/Sky/BBCâ€:
“ACTION ALERT: National Call In Day Friday, 26th Februaryâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/action_alert_national_call_in_day_this_friday_the_26th_feb.htm
“US advert for autism ‘cure’ banned in UKâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/us_advert_for_autism_cure_banned_in_uk.htm
“Gary McKinnon Updates: New court date in extradition marathonâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/gary_mckinnon_updates_new_court_date_in_extradition_maratho.htm
HEALTH & RESEARCH
“Test for autism in 5 minutesâ€:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22731483/detail.html
“The Independent: Why autism is different for girlsâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/the_independent_why_autism_is_different_for_girls.htm
“Study sheds new light on autismâ€:
“Childhood absence epilepsy: Comparative clinical trial of widely used anti-seizure drugsâ€:
“The Mouse Trap: Autism and ADHD as Opposites Based on Fly Modelsâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/the_mouse_trap_autism_and_adhd_as_opposites_based_on_fly_mo.htm
Rett’s Syndrome “Scientists find clue to syndromeâ€:
http://www.article-submissionservice.com/1871/scientists-find-clue-to-syndrome
“Risks from antipsychotic medications in children and adolescentsâ€:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/303/8/730-a?rss=1
“Scientists study wiring defects in brainâ€:
“Launching of new genetic test for cause of intellectual disabilityâ€:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180684.php
[Includes Video]“Scientists look to help autistic children find a voiceâ€:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/01/autism.speech.learning/index.html?hpt=C2
“Selective mutism: Breaking the silenceâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/selective_mutism_breaking_the_silence.htm
“A crucial tool in English Language Development: Reading to our Childrenâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/acrucial_tool_in_english_language_development_reading_to_ou.htm
“Gestures or words? To the brain, it’s the sameâ€:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=113551
“(NYTimes)Occupational Therapy: Watch how you hold that crayonâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/nytimesoccupational_therapy_watch_how_you_hold_that_crayo.htm
“Dyslexia: Improving Reading and Writing Skillsâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/dyslexia_improving_reading_and_writing_skills.htm
“Child Development: Children Don’t Trust Each Other When Learning The Rules & More …â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/child_development_children_dont_trust_each_other_when_lear.htm
“Offspring of parent couples who both have psychiatric illness have increased risk of developing mental disordersâ€:
“Stress hormone in womb predicts poorer cognitive development, but loving care can “undo†itâ€:
“Cure for peanut allergy: Technique could be used to tackle other reactionsâ€:
“Regular Exercise Reduces Patient Anxiety By 20%, Study Findsâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/regular_exercise_reduces_patient_anxiety_by_20_study_finds.htm
“Latest on Depression: Includes Video Games Helping Combat Depression, Wives’ Depression, Religious Belief Can Protect, 7 Depression Busters & More …â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/latest_on_depression_includes_video_games_helping_combat_de.htm
“University of Queensland discovers how antidepressants actually workâ€:
“Stephen Fry urges help for Bipolar gene studyâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/stephen_fry_urges_help_for_bipolar_gene_study.htm
“Rise in self-diagnosis of bipolar disorderâ€:
“How we keep Bipolar disorderedâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/how_we_keep_bipolar_disordered.htm
“Why symptoms of schizophrenia emerge in young adulthoodâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/why_symptoms_of_schizophrenia_emerge_in_young_adulthood.htm
“Long-time cannabis use associated with psychosisâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/longtime_cannabis_use_associated_with_psychosis.htm
“National Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2010â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/national_eating_disorders_awareness_week_2010.htm
“Mental Health: First of its kind guide to nonprescription therapies for mental & physical well-beingâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/mental_health_first_of_its_kind_guide_to_nonprescription_th.htm
“Bon Jovi rocks for the homelessâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/bon_jovi_rocks_for_the_homeless.htm
“Hearts & Minds Education Program Launched: On average, people with mental illness live 25 years less than other Americansâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/hearts__minds_education_program_launched_on_average_peo.htm
“When abdominal pain in children has no apparent cause: What is behind it?â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/when_abdominal_pain_in_children_has_no_apparent_cause_what_.htm
“Hospitalization associated with mental declineâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/hospitalization_associated_with_mental_decline.htm
“A shorter history of psychiatric diagnosisâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/a_shorter_history_of_psychiatric_diagnosis.htm
“Search for knowledge stimulates brain healthâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/search_for_knowledge_stimulates_brain_health.htm
“Take that nap! It may boost your learning capacity among other good thingsâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/take_that_nap_it_may_boost_your_learning_capacity_among_oth.htm
“Brain Cosmetics and Herculean Memoryâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/brain_cosmetics_and_herculean_memory.htm
“Intelligent people have “unnatural†preferences and values that are novel in human evolutionary historyâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/intelligent_people_have_unnatural_preferences_and_values_t.htm
“Investigating Wittgenstein, part 5: Other selvesâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/feb/22/wittgenstein-philosophical-investigations
“Is blogging good for you?â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/is_blogging_good_for_you.htm
“Am happy, will seek novelty; Am sad, will stick with familiarâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/am_happy_will_seek_novelty_am_sad_will_stick_with_familia.htm
“Relationships: A Healthy Relationship, Mixed Families, Tell Me Lies, Tell Me Sweet Little Lies & Moreâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/relationships_a_healthy_relationship_stuck_in_a_bad_love_p.htm
“Relationships: The Attraction of Red, Psychology of Touch, Facebook Profiles, Self Knowledge, Marriage Problems?, Soothing Approachesâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/relationships_the_attraction_of_red_psychology_of_touch_f.htm
“Virtual Hospitalâ€:
http://www.uihealthcare.com/vh/
EDUCATION
“House Bill limits school use of restraintsâ€:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2011247987_apusschoolsrestraints.html
Call to scrap school exclusions – “School exclusions punish vulnerable childrenâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/call_to_scrap_school_exclusions_exclusions_punish_vulnerabl.htm
“Anti-Bullying Bill puts emphasis on autistic kids/Cyberbullying: A growing problemâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/antibullying_bill_puts_emphasis_on_autistic_kids.htm
NZ “Autistic students will get extra timeâ€:
http://topnews.net.nz/content/22471-autistic-students-will-get-extra-time
“Trained volunteers help parents advocate for special needs kids at schoolsâ€:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/02/trained-volunteers-help-parents-advocate-kids/
“Homeschooled Autistic 7 Year Old ~ Budding Entomologistâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/homeschooled_autistic_7_year_old__budding_entomologist.htm
“Homeschool 101 Special Needs: Down Syndrome /Autism Workshopsâ€:
“Neuroscientist: Think twice about cutting music in schools … At an 11 a.m. press briefing, Saturday, Feb. 20, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, a Northwestern University neuroscientist will argue that music training has profound effects that shape the sensory system and should be a mainstay of K-12 education. “Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice,” says Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Communication Sciences at Northwestern University.â€:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-02/nu-ntt021710.php
“School staff numbers are slashed in half by councilâ€:
“Asperger’s pupils will be biggest casualty if Llanidloes school closedâ€:
“High school drops drama – for nowâ€:
http://www.galtheraldonline.com/articles/2010/03/03/news/doc4b8560fbe1e5f639481957.txt
Quebec “This has been a huge improvement in the students’ livesâ€:
“TES Connect Download Resources: Instructional Cue Cardsâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036742
“TES Connect Download Resources: Label The Music Studioâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036734
“TES Connect Download Resources: Category Bookâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036733
“TES Connect Download Resources: P Levels and The National Numeracy Strategyâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036226
“TES Connect Download Resources: About P Scalesâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036231
“TES Connect Download Resources: Learning To Make It Countâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036230
“TES Connect Download Resources: Rhythm of Lifeâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036229
“TES Connect Download Resources: Graphemes (2) Phase 3 Letters and Sounds Flashcardsâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036584
“TES Connect Download Resources: Set 7 Phase 3 Letters and Sounds Flashcardsâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036582
“TES Connect Download Resources: Working with Teaching Assistantsâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036558
“TES Connect Download Resources: SEN Code of Practiceâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036554
“TES Connect Download Resources: Removing the Barriers (DFES)â€:
“TES Connect Download Resources: Sound-Spelling Linkâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036529
“TES Connect Download Resources: Alphabet Train(Freeze):
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6037746
“TES Connect Download Resources: Seal: It’s Good To Be Me(Worksheet)â€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036735
“TES Connect Download Resources: Pictures and Words to go with Living Eggsâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6037537
“TES Connect Download Resources: Blank Mind Mapâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6037538
“TES Connect Download Resources: Reward Chartâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6037540
“TES Connect Download Resources: A Picture Schedule – Preparing Ready Made Soupâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036880
“TES Connect Download Resources: Make A Choice Between 3 Soups(Worksheet)â€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6036873
“TES Connect Download Resources: Symbolworld – eLiveâ€:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6037888
EMPLOYMENT
“How to launch a second careerâ€:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/how-to-launch-a-second-career-4.aspx
“Portable, practical learning … Allentown special ed students prepare for work force by running a food and coffee cart, the delectABLE Deliâ€:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a5_5foodcart.7183214feb22,0,5800524.story
“iTouch is on-the-job tool for student with special needsâ€:
“Nine tips for feeling happier when you’ve lost your job … or fear you mightâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/nine_tips_for_feeling_happier_when_youve_lost_your_job__.htm
“Creative Support Ltdâ€:
http://www.creativesupport.co.uk/
“Autelligent Laboratories
We believe all people have a contribution to make and deserve an opportunity to be productive.
With your caring and excellent help, we are creating jobs for the 40 million people worldwide who are diagnosed with Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Today less than one in five of us are currently employed. We are motivated and competent and we deserve equal employment. Help make this a reality.
Autelligent Laboratories is dedicated to creating a space where autistic software engineers can more than contribute, we can excel.â€:
Luxury Quality Scented Candles “Humbolt Candles – Autism & Disability Employment Companyâ€:
http://www.humboldtcandles.com/index.html
“Auties.orgâ€:
Individuality, Diversity, Equality, Achievement
Auties..org is an Aspie & Autie friendly site for all people on the Autistic Spectrum who are ready to dare reach out to occupation and employment, open the doors to the community and market their abilities directly to the public and for those interested in supporting these pioneers.
“Prospectsâ€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=473&a=2348
“AutismJobsâ€:
Linking job seekers with vacancies in work related to autism, Aspergers and ASDs
http://www.autismjobs.org/?section=00010009
“Current job vacancies within the NASâ€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=170
For further employment information, please viewâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/employment_on_the_autism_spectrum.htm
GENERAL/HUMAN INTEREST
WSJ “Interview with Temple Grandinâ€:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703525704575061123564007514.html
Video[19:44] “Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of mindsâ€:
http://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds.html
“Rare pink grasshopper Valentine’s gift to museum … Ronnie McLaughlin IV, a budding entomologist only 7 years old, was routinely searching out crawling creatures when he made a backyard find so rare it will go on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
He is autistic, home-schooled as part of an intensive home therapy program. One of his strongest interests is bugs.â€:
http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=d409f006d55e5108
“Spring Break camp for autistic kids in Dallasâ€:
“Air cadets flying with successâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/air_cadets_flying_with_success.htm
“Autism reshaping grandparent role, survey findsâ€:
http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2010/02/19/grandparents-autism-survey/7054/
“People with Asperger Syndromeâ€:
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2086.shtml
CZECH REPUBLIC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_Republic
http://www.czech.cz/
Autistic Club
Kyselova 1189/24
182 00 Prague 8
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tel: +42 858 4141
Mobile: 0605 400 865
Email: autistic@volny.czt
Website: http://www.volny.cz/autiskic
Prague Castle and Church of St Nicholas by Night
Association in Aid of Persons with Autism (APLA-Prague)
Strednà Cechy, o.s., Brunnerova 1011/3,
163 00 Praha 17
Prague
CZECH REPUBLIC
Tel: 420 606 729 672
Email: apla@apla.cz
Website: http://www.praha.apla.cz/o-nas-cizojazycne/about-us.html
Dancing Building, Prague
Built during 1992-96 by Frank Gehry and Vladimir Mulunic, the Dancing Building is a piece of controversial Prague architecture that the locals still aren’t sure about. However, the delightful design of the building, nicknamed “Fred and Ginger” for the way the building mimics the forms of a dancing couple, is usually a prime object of photography for tourists. The La Perle de Prague, housed on the top floor, is one of Prague’s top restaurants – and one of its most expensive
“Autism Europeâ€:
http://www.autismeurope.org/PORTAL/Default.aspx?tabid=130
The Prague Astronomical Clock or Prague Orloj is a medieval astronomical clock located in Prague at 50°5′13.23″N, 14°25′15.30″E, the capital of the Czech Republic. The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square and is a popular tourist attraction. The Orloj is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details.The Walk of the Apostles, a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.
“ANED – Czech Republic(Facts, Figures & Reports, Organizations, Resources & Networks, Laws & Strategies Etc)â€:
http://www.disability-europe.net/en/countries/Czech%20Republic?jsEnabled=1
Colour me Prague
“MDACâ€:
http://www.mdac.info/en/Czech-Republic
Franz Kafka – 3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924 is one of the most important and influential fiction writers of the early 20th century; a novelist and writer of short stories whose works, only after his death, came to be regarded as one of the major achievements of 20th century literature. He was born to middle-class German-speaking Jewish parents in Prague, Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka
“Czech Republic Guideâ€:
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/czech-republic-guide/
Prague’s Festive Market
The Church of Our Lady before Týn (in Czech Kostel Matky Božà pÅ™ed Týnem, also Týnský chrám (Týn Church) or just Týn) is a dominant feature of the Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic, and has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century. The church’s towers are 80 m high and topped by four small spires.
Learn More :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Our_Lady_in_front_of_Týn
“Czech Republic Factsâ€:
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/czech-republic-facts/
Karlstejn Castle situated in the Central Bohemian Region, founded in 1348 by Charles IV
Tabor, South Bohemia
Cesky Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle. Old Český Krumlov is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was given this status along with the historic Prague castle district. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesk%C3%BD_Krumlov
Ostrava, Mid-Winter
Plzen
Bohemian/Moravian Folk Costume of Kroj
Springtime in Prague
Brno Autodromo
Maxime Berger crash on SBK Brno
“Prague Quizâ€:
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/city-guides/prague-quiz/
Prague
ADD/ADHD
“BBC Trust condemns ‘inaccurate’ Panorama ADHD episodeâ€:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/feb/24/panorama-bbc-trust-ruling
“Free ADHD educational seminarâ€:
http://www.kzbb.com/pages/b98psas.html?article=6806830
“New gene linked to ADHDâ€:
http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20100216/new-gene-linked-to-adhd
“Indicators of ADHD & ADD in young children and the reason why it’s frequently overlookedâ€:
“Developmental Delay and ADHDâ€:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2704031/developmental_delay_and_adhd.html?cat=4
“Treating ADHD may not improve kids’ school gradesâ€:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/02/treating-adhd-improve-kids-school-grades.html
“Computer test catches children with ADHD … RESEARCHERS have developed a computer test that can diagnose children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with 96 per cent accuracy.â€:
http://www.theage.com.au/technology/computer-test-catches-children-with-adhd-20100217-odz2.html
“One in two children has chronic health issuesâ€:
“ADHD medication debate reignitesâ€:
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2821576.htm
“ADHD may be associated with creative geniusâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/adhd_may_be_associated_with_creative_genius.htm
“Adults can have ADHDâ€:
http://www.kivitv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12064327
“ADHD in Females As Adults – What Does It Look Like?â€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/adhd_in_females_as_adults__what_does_it_look_like.htm
“Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adultsâ€:
http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/2/96
“Adolescent clinical outcomes for young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorderâ€:
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/196/3/235
“RAD – Reactive Attachment Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, ODD Treatment, Oppositional Defiant Disorder Therapyâ€:
http://www.pr-inside.com/rad-reactive-attachment-disorder-oppositional-r1750319.htm
ADRES “Adverse Drug Reaction Electronic System(Adverse Drug Reactions Website)â€- This website provides patients, doctors, and other medical professionals with a comprehensive examination of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), side effects, and other safety information for both prescription and over-the-counter medications.. Our goal is to allow users of our website make informed decisions when taking (patients) or prescribing (doctors) drugs. We are providing unmatched information and analysis tools.
http://www.adverse-drug-reaction.net/
“adders.orgâ€:
Our objective is to promote awareness to AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) and to provide information and as much free practical help as we can to those affected by the condition, both adults and children, their families in the UK and around the World via this website.
“ADDISS†The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service…
http://www.addiss.co.uk/index.html
“ADDAâ€:
“hi2u ADHD Pagesâ€:
“CHADDâ€:
http://www.chadd.org/am/CustomPages/home/CHADD_Home.htm?CFID=2282059&CFTOKEN=38105335&jsessionid=f2303343221169802693562
SPORT
“Swimming Challenges ~ Includes Great Swim Series 2010(June – September 2010)â€:
The Great Swim series is taking place at various locations during summer 2010. There will be four televised one-mile outdoor swims, staged in lakes, lochs and docks around the UK.
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2551
“10-kilometre runsâ€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1816
“Trek the Sahara – 5-25 March 2010 or 29 Oct-8 Nov 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2542
“Trek the Inca Trail – 22-31 May 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1863
“Trek Snowdon – 11–3 June 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2524
“Trek the Jurassic Coast – 16-18 July 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2525
“Trek Mount Kilimanjaro – 29 Sept-10 Oct 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2200
“Trek the Great Wall of China – 9-18 Oct 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2356
“Trek to Everest Base Camp – 5-21 November 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2354
“Cycle Cuba – 14-22 March 2010â€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2357
“London to Paris 2010 – 5-8 Juneâ€:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2407
“L’Etape du Tour 2010 – 18 July 2010â€
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=2404
“Sky Diving – All Year Round”:
http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=1726
MUSIC
Brittany Maier “Autistic pianistâ€:
http://www.empowereddoctor.com/autistic-pianist
“The AutisMusic Projectâ€:
ART
“3D Modelling Program, Google SketchUp lets Autistic Children Createâ€:
http://aspie-editorial.blog-city.com/3d_modelling_program_google_sketchup_lets_autistic_chidren_.htm
“Garden as art: Jade … Twelve-year-old Abbi Roman of Antioch has autism, but she has found a connection with plants and her camera. This blooming jade plant started out as a cutting from a plant Abbi’s great-grandmother grew on her porch in San Francisco. Although the woman is gone, her memory lives on in the plant and Abbi’s photos.â€:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/home-garden/ci_14411978?source=rss
Closing Date: Wednesday 24th March 2010 “Young Brits at Art, Suggested Topic, Your Rightsâ€
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is asking young Britons to express their vision of a world free from prejudice for Young Brits at Art 2010. This year the national art award invites 11-19 year olds to explore their beliefs, opinions and judgments by asking: “What would the world look like if we lived without prejudice?†Young Brits at Art 2010 includes new categories such as photography, sculpture and motion animation, as well as its previous sections for painting and drawing.
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6033713
GLIMPSE – the talents of the autism community
They are painters, sculptors and photographers; poets and storytellers; musicians and creators of amazing video games. They are kids, teens and adults. Last year, a new online publication arose to celebrate the talents of autistic individuals and other developmental disabilities: GLIMPSE, offered by ICDL (The Interdisciplinary Council of Developmental and Learning Disorders). In late 2008, Volume 2 of GLIMPSE was released, and was expanded into a print book and notecards. The works are serious, humourous, deeply personal and illuminating. See it for yourself, share it with others, submit your own/your child’s work for inclusion in Volume 3, to release later this year. Find information and ordering details at www.icdl.com
“ARTROOM ………where under 17s can make and display art onlineâ€:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artroom/index.php
MOVIES/ENTERTAINMENT
“Movie adds to the legend of autistic professorâ€:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10059/1039213-60.stm
“Hollywood takes on autismâ€:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-24/hollywood-takes-on-autism/
“Actors for Autismâ€:
http://www.actorsforautism.com/
BOOKS
“Get out, Explore, and Have Fun!: How Families of Children with Autism or Asperger Syndrome Can get the Most out of Community Activitiesâ€
Lisa Jo Rudy
http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781849058094
“Developing College Skills with Autism and Asperger’s Syndromeâ€
Sarita Freedman
Foreword by Tony Attwood
http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781843109174
“Islands of Genius: The Bountiful Mind of the Autistic Acquired, and Sudden Savantâ€
Darold A. Treffert
Foreword by Daniel Tammet
http://www.jkp.com/catalogue/book/9781849058100
“Middle School: The Stuff Nobody Tells You About – A Teenage Girl with High-Functioning Autism Shares Her Experiencesâ€
Haley Moss
http://www.asperger.net/bookstore_9053.htm
Now Available on iTunes, iPhone & iTouch!
“Hidden Curriculum on the Go! For Kids and for Older Adolescents and Adultsâ€
http://www.asperger.net/bookstore_iphone_HC.htm
MOVIE
“Robin Hoodâ€
Release Date: May 14, 2010.
Official Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKzfVux8ses
Synopsis: Oscar® winner Russell Crowe stars as the legendary figure known by generations as “Robin Hood,” whose exploits have endured in popular mythology and ignited the imagination of those who share his spirit of adventure and righteousness. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people. Read More … http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/robin_hood_2010/
First Ever LEGO DVD & Blu-ray Release (Spring 2010)
“Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powersâ€
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sLZP7h9gs0
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=lego+the+adventures+of+clutch+powers&sprefix=LEGO%3A+The+
VIDEO GAME
LEGO Indiana Jones 2 (Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows)
Released November 2009
SCIENCE
“Stephen Hawking Plans To Leave Britain Over Government Cuts In Scienceâ€:
TECH
“SkinPut: Body Acoustics Can Turn Your Arm Into A TouchScreenâ€:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18591-body-acoustics-can-turn-your-arm-into-a-touchscreen.html
Take Care,
Julie
Old Town Square, Prague(Morning Sunlight)
 
The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article by historian of psychiatry, Edward Shorter, about the raft of new changes in the proposed revision of the DSM-V ‘psychiatric bible’ and how they reflect our changing ideas about mental illness.
For some reason the piece has been given the stupid of title of ‘Why Psychiatry Needs Therapy’, which is a mystery as it doesn’t mention anything along these lines.
Shorter is one of the most highly-respected historians of the field, well known for his critical approach, and this article has his trademark no-holds-barred criticisms of psychiatry.
In the 1950s and ’60s, when psychiatry was still under the influence of the European scientific tradition, reasonably accurate diagnoses still sat at center stage. If you felt blue, uneasy and generally jumpy, “nerves” was a common diagnosis. For the psychotherapeutically oriented psychiatrists of the day, “psychoneurosis” was the equivalent of nerves. There was no point in breaking these terms down: clinicians and patients alike understood “a case of nerves,” or a “nervous breakdown.”
Our psychopathological lingo today offers little improvement on these sturdy terms. A patient with the same symptoms today might be told he has “social anxiety disorder” or “seasonal affective disorder.” The increased specificity is spurious. There is little risk of misdiagnosis, because the new disorders all respond to the same drugs, so in terms of treatment, the differentiation is meaningless and of benefit mainly to pharmaceutical companies that market drugs for these niches.
Link to WSJ article on Shorter on psychiatric diagnosis.
Source:Â http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2010/03/a_shorter_history_of.html
 
Article Date: 03 Mar 2010 – 3:00 PST
A systematic review that is published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by Schulte and associates (University of Bremen, Germany) analyzes what is the psychosomatic component of abdominal pain with no apparent cause in children.
The objective of this study was to review the extant literature on functional abdominal pain in childhood through the lens of the developmental psychopathology perspective and to systematize research results by means of a two-stage pathway model in which the emergence of functional abdominal pain and its potential transition into a somatoform adjustment disorder is outlined. The investigators used electronic searches for published studies and previous reviews about functional abdominal pain. An association of functional abdominal pain with internalizing symptoms, poor well-being of family members, major life events and daily stressors was found. The impact of stress on pain seems to be moderated by the children’s coping style and their perceived competence and self-efficacy to manage the pain experience. There is evidence for the influence of modeling and operant mechanisms on pain experiences. A new term, ‘somatoform adjustment disorder’, and its relation to functional abdominal pain is discussed. It seems that those children with functional abdominal pain who cannot adapt to the pain indeed run the risk of developing a somatoform adjustment disorder.
Source: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics Â
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/180959.php
