December 2011

Love and Autism

Jack Robison and Kirsten Lindsmith, two college students living in Greenfield, Mass., discuss how autism affects their lives and relationship

Source: The New York Times

Snowman

Its been another successful year at our practice, Tri-City Psychology Services.

In August 2011 we relocated to new offices and this move was a great success.

Yesterday we closed for the holidays, we re-open again on Tuesday January 3rd at 9.30am.

Dr. Owen James, Dr. Lisa Eisen and Kathy James would like to wish all our clients, referral agencies and friends, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

snowflakeWe wish you and your family. a safe and happy holiday season. We’re taking a break to spend time with our family, so enjoy your family and we’ll see you in 2012

How Pregnancy Changes a Woman’s Brain

Pregnant woman

Image: Stockxpert

We know a lot about the links between a pregnant mother’s health, behavior, and moods and her baby’s cognitive and psychological development once it is born. But how does pregnancy change a mother’s brain? “Pregnancy is a critical period for central nervous system development in mothers,” says psychologist Laura M. Glynn of Chapman University. “Yet we know virtually nothing about it.” Glynn and her colleague Curt A. Sandman, of University of the California Irvine, are doing something about that. Their review of the literature in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science, discusses the theories and findings that are starting to fill what Glynn calls “a significant gap in our understanding of this critical stage of most women’s lives.”

At no other time in a woman’s life does she experience such massive hormonal fluctuations as during pregnancy. Research suggests that the reproductive hormones may ready a woman’s brain for the demands of motherhood—helping her becomes less rattled by stress and more attuned to her baby’s needs. Although the hypothesis remains untested, Glynn surmises this might be why moms wake up when the baby stirs while dads snore on. Other studies confirm the truth in a common complaint of pregnant women: “Mommy Brain,” or impaired memory before and after birth. “There may be a cost” of these reproduction-related cognitive and emotional changes, says Glynn, “but the benefit is a more sensitive, effective mother.” [continue reading…]