Dietlose

I recently found an interesting tool on the National Geographic website, which has a quick and helpful interactive introduction to the human brain. The  tutorial explains in simple terms the brain's anatomy, some common diseases, and which parts of the brain are stimulated by smells, light, sound, romance, and other stimuli.

The site offers insight into the intricate workings of the brain, many of us are not familiar with. The site defines the common elements of the brain and what primary functions they are responsible for. It also offers an interactive section where the reader can select an area of the brain to visually see where it is located and what tasks that area is responsible for.

You can access the site here.

A new treatment for stroke victims promises to suction out clogged arteries in hopes of stopping brain damage before permanent and lasting harm is caused. The drug, Penumbra, is newly approved and is the latest in a series of inside-the-artery attempts to boost recovery from a stroke.

More than 700,000 Americans suffer a stroke each year, and more than 150,000 of them die. Survivors often face serious disability and permanent brain injuries. While this new treatment drug sounds promising, it may not be ideal for every stroke patient.

Penumbra is ideal for patients who are not able to receive treatment in the very early stages after a stroke has been suffered. It can also be helpful for those patients who have tried other methods of treatment, like the clot-busting drug TPA, and was unsuccessful.

You can read more on Penumbra and its next stages of research here.

The information learned from fMRI scanning is certainly breathtaking.  I recently read another interesting article with regard to the use of fMRI with patients who sustained a traumatic brain injury. 

This article published in the archives of General Psychiatry/Volume 60 (No. 1) January 2008, entitled “Neural substrates of symptoms of depression following concussion in male athletes with persistent post-concussion symptoms” looked at whether the symptoms of depression reflect an ongoing pathopsysiological change following concussion. 

The authors Chen, Johnston, Petrides and Ptito from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Magill University, and the Concussion Clinic Neurorehabilitation Program, Toronto Rehabilitation Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto examined 56 male athletes with and without concussion who were divided into four separate groups.  The four groups were one, a no depression symptom, concussed group; a mild depressed symptom, concussed group; a moderate depression symptom, concussed group and a healthy control group.  All athletes filled out a post-concussive symptoms checklist and the bet depression inventory II and then underwent a MRI session which included T1, T2 and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences as well as functional MRI during which they performed a working memory test. 

The results indicated that behaviorally there was no performance differences between the groups.  However, imaging, athletes with concussion with depressed symptoms showed reduced activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and striatum and attenuated deactivation in medial frontal and temporal lesions.  The severity of symptoms of depression correlated with neuroresponses in brain areas that are implicated in major depression. 

The authors concluded that the results suggested that depressed mood following a concussion might reflect an underlying pathophysiology consistent with a limbic-frontal model of depression.  Given that depression is associated with considerable functional disability, the authors believe that this finding will have important clinical implications in the management of individuals with a cerebral concussion.

Yesterday, President Bush released $3.7 billion in emergency money for veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan at the request of Congress last month. President Bush states that he believed the money should have been initially included as part of the year's normal appropriations.

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee said that if this money was not approved, the care for veterans would have been undercut at a time when it is needed most. Akaka states that there is currently an increased need to expand mental health care, improve treatment for traumatic brain injuries and reverse a claims backlog.

You can read more on President Bush's statement here.