Microglial Cells & Depression

Hi Everyone!

Some of you who heard my Pain presentation in class may recall me telling you Glial cells will BIG in the future. Researchers in Jerusalem have recently found Microglial die under chronic stress which leads to depression. Further when researchers found when medication was given to stimulate microglial cells they increased back to normal levels and complete recovery of depression occurred. These effects also occurred within just a few days! That is BIG!

Brain Recovery Longer for Concussions/TBIs

Hi Everyone!

A new study on Concussions funded by the National Institutes of Health & conducted at the Mind Research Network suggests even though symptoms may clear at about 2 weeks post injury, the brain is still having difficulties 4 months later. More studies have to be done to see how much further after injury the brain has still not fully recovered. This not only supports the previous research we discussed in class on why repetitive concussions, even minor ones, have cumulative devastating effects, but would support postponing returning to playing sports.

The study used a new imaging method called Tensor Diffusion (see description of imaging by pictures) This type of brain scan is not a standard method used and does suggest this might be something needed in the future. This imaging technique was used in a study in 2008 on soldiers with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) from IED blasts and falls related to the blast. In this study they found one third of the soldiers who had been cleared of their injury through using traditional brain imaging, still showed clear brain abnormalities even 12 months later. Again, this raises concern on clearing soldiers and placing them back in action when their brain is still affected and how current brain imaging techniques used may be inaccurate.

Stopping Compulsive Behaviors

Hi Everyone!

An article reported in Scientific American originally by Kerri Smith reports scientist have been able to create and reverse compulsive behaviors in mice. They were also surprised to find the cortex had a role in the automatic behavior. The research lends potential for future treatment in human OCD.

WI Towns Fine Parents of Bullies

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would post this in case you had not seen it yet. There are some towns in WI which are fining parents and bullying of a certain age when nothing else has worked. $114 for a first offense & $177 for second. What do you think about this? Will this help? Some adults bully and many times this is where their children learn it from. The idea is if nothing else works and parents are not cooperative they would enforce this fine in hopes it will eventually curb behavior.

Talking Plants

Hi Everyone!

Psychology has been defined as "the scientific study of human and animal behavior and their cognitive processes" traditionally. Well.... :-) Watch this PBS video called "What Plants Talk About" (approx 53 min). It makes one wonder if we will be including plants soon in our definition of Psychology???

Exercise To The Music!

Hi Everyone!

Do you listen to music while you workout? If you do, why? Any particular type of music? Do you think it helps? A recent article in Scientific American called "Let's Get Physical: The Psychology of Effective Workout Music" by Ferris Jabr explains the benefits of using music while you workout. Take a look it is amazing just how many and in what specific ways.

Mindfulness Articles

Hi Everyone!

Perfect Timing! This article with video (bottom) was posted last night on Mindfulness! The article discusses how stress is costing 300 BILLION in the workforce! It states the CDC finds "75% of all health care spending is due to chronic illnesses" and "2/3s of doctor's visits are due to stress-related conditions" which can be helped by stress management techniques. The article discusses happiness and how it is related to work performance, what some companies like Google are doing to help with employee stress, and Mindfulness. The video later demonstrates some techniques!!!

This is Industrial/Organizational Psychology, the specialization Prof. Stevenson & I have our Master's degrees in. Health Psychology is in the text on page C-7 and I/O Psychology is on page C-8. And as you know I am certified in Stress Mgt. This is why I spend the time I do in class on this topic and a reminder...you might want to seriously consider this as a major/occupation. It is very much needed and can you imagine your life not only helping others but you hopefully will personally benefit from it daily! :-)

I also was looking for a graphic for this post (reminder you can use pictures off .gov sites freely) I found an aritcle on the National Institute of Health which discusses a study where meditation has benefits one can actually see in the brain even in weeks one does not meditate!

Check them out & try to incorporate this in your life!