As people age, their brains pay the price — inflammation goes up, levels of certain neurotransmitters go down, and the result is a plethora of ailments ranging from memory impairment and depression to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. But in a long-term study with implications to treat these and other conditions, researchers have found that an experimental drug, taken chronically, has the ability to stem the effects of aging in the rat brain.
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March 2008
Mental health insurance parity raises all sorts of tricky questions. Is an ailment a legitimate disease if you can’t test for it?
Link to read this New York Times Article:
The Murky Politics of Mind-Body
By SARAH KERSHAW
Published: March 30, 2008
Children with and without behavioral problems, as well as autistic children, should be encouraged to talk aloud in classrooms
Parents should not worry when their pre-schoolers talk to themselves; in fact, they should encourage it, says Adam Winsler, an associate professor of psychology at George Mason University. His recent study published in Early Childhood Research Quarterly showed that 5-year-olds do better on motor tasks when they talk to themselves out loud (either spontaneously or when told to do so by an adult) than when they are silent. [continue reading…]
MRI studies show brain changes in the adolescent brain impact cognition, emotion and behavior
 Many parents are convinced that the brains of their teenage offspring are different than those of children and adults. New data confirms that this is the case. An article by Jay N. Giedd, MD, of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), published in the April 2008 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health describes how brain changes in the adolescent brain impact cognition, emotion and behavior. [continue reading…]
