Brain Injury Law Blog : Head Injury : Coma : Personal Injury : Las Vegas Nevada Lawyer & Attorney Tim Titolo

An article in the LA Times reports a study concluding that Brain Stimulation Improves Severe Depression.

Major depressive disorder affects about 14 million people in the U.S., and 10% to 20% of them do not respond to standard medical treatment, according the study.

In the fast-paced atmosphere of the modern world, where everyone has somewhere to be or something that needs to be taken care of, it's very easy for our lives to fall out of focus. Whether we're taking care of the needs of others or pushing to maintain our stamina in a hectic workplace, we often put our own personal needs at the end of our to-do lists. It's very easy for the blues to hang on a little longer than it should.

The nine men and 11 women in the trial had not improved on multiple medications, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy. Subjects had been taking an average of four medications when the trial began in 2003 and had suffered from major depression for an average of 6.9 years.

Deep brain stimulation is approved to treat essential tremors and Parkinson's disease. Electrodes, which are permanently implanted in the brain, are powered by batteries and can be turned on and off by an external controller.
 

A new study with expanded participants is underway.

Read the article by clicking here.

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What do you really know about the human brain? That's the question that The Human Brain Web site asks. This site from the Franklin Institute contains "the fruit of decades of research."

In addition to participating in what the site describes as today's neuroscience renaissance, teachers, students and others interested in learning more about the care and feeding of the human brain will find this an interesting place to visit. Information on nourishing the brain features the "Brain Food Pyramid" diet and menu. Also included is information on protecting the brain and on the importance of exercise, sleep and stress relief in renewing the brain.
 

Click here to visit www.fi.edu/brain.

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Research out of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston reveals evidence of a face recognition area in the brain.

Functional MRI (fMRI) can observe three dimensional volume that cotains about 200,000 neurons.  Using fMRI at higher resolution allows researchers to zoom in on smaller bits of the visual cortex; Similar to looking at grains of sugar rather than a whole sugar cube.

Now, researchers have identified two pea sized areas of the brain they believe are responsible for face recognition.  It is called "fusiform face area" (FFA) because it resembles a spindle or "fusus" in latin.  It helps explain why we are so good at remembering faces which in turn, makes us us able to make snap judgments about gender, age, mood, expression, intent, attractiveness, and honesty.  This ability enables social interaction and was probably critical in the survival of our primate ancestors.

FFA images may assist our understanding on propopagnosia, an impairtment in the recognition of faces known as face blindness.

The study of brain circuits may help treat autism and depression.

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An upcoming, interesting conference on Spine and brain injury in August.

The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at UCLA today announced that it will host an international forum featuring some of the world's most innovative scientists and technology leaders at the vanguard of treatments for brain and spinal cord injuries and diseases.

The fifth annual World Congress of the International Brain Mapping and Intraoperative Surgical Planning Society (IBMISPS), will be held at the CNSI on the UCLA campus from Tuesday, Aug. 26, to Friday, Aug. 29.
 

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Susan Connors, president  of the BIAA, asked me to post this message.

On behalf of the Brain Injury Association of America, I am thrilled to announce that yesterday a group of United States Senators, led by Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL), sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates calling on him to enact official coverage of cognitive rehabilitation within the military's TRICARE health insurance program.

BIAA worked closely with Senator Bayh's office to initiate the development of this letter and to urge the support of ten highly esteemed Senators who signed on in support of this important effort to increase access to timely, state-of-the-art care for returning servicemembers with traumatic brain injury. A copy of the letter is available from BIAA's website, along with talking points in support of TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation and a summary of the efficacy evidence. Additionally, on our website you will find BIAA's position statement, Cognitive Rehabilitation: The Evidence, Funding and Case for Advocacy, published in November 2006.

BIAA thanks Senators Bayh and Obama for their leadership on this issue and looks forward to continuing to work with Congress and the Department of Defense to make TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation a reality. We gratefully acknowledge the members of BIAA's Federal Legislative Advisory Committee who dedicated their time and expertise on behalf of this effort: Drs. Mark Ashley, Wayne Gordon, Debbie McMorrow, Greg O'Shanick, Jim Schraa, and Tina Trudel.

In addition, BIAA expresses special appreciation to Drs. Keith Cicerone and Wayne Gordon for assistance in identifying the evidence supporting cognitive rehabilitation and to the Cognitive Rehabilitation Task Force of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine's Brain Injury Interdisciplinary Special Interest Group. Last, but certainly not least, I wish to recognize Laura Schiebelhut, BIAA's Director of Government Affairs, for her hard work and perseverance on this issue. She has my heartfelt gratitude and deepest respect.

BIAA is dedicated to educating the nation's policymakers about the value of cognitive and other brain injury rehabilitation therapies and the dire need to increase access to these therapies across both civilian and military populations. We will keep you informed of our progress.

Thank you for your support.

Susan H. Connors, President/CEO

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Many times I am confronted by defenses amounting to genuine brain injury must impact all areas of impairments.  Not true.

In this article you can read about a man who was t-boned at 55 mph 8 years ago.  He describes his memory impairment. "It's like a file cabinet where all the files have been moved and overturned and moved around so I can't get to them."

"It's real bad, it upsets me too, big time, because just the knowledge that all the information that I've ever learned in my life is up here but I can't get to it."

Contrary to the notion that having a brain injury impacts each and every area of brain function and if it does not it must be something else, brain injury impacts individual brains in unique ways.  Just as all brains are unique to the individual, similar impacts have different consequences on differenct people.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

 

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Alzheimer's Society comment on new research presented at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD).

High blood pressure doubles the risk of Alzheimer's disease and increases the risk of stroke. This study highlights that it is becoming increasingly important to investigate anti-hypertension drugs as a potential treatment for dementia, not just a risk factor.

These findings will be important in stimulating further research into the relationship between anti-hypertension drugs and the development of dementia. A proper clinical trial is now needed to investigate if this particular class of drug can benefit thousands of people living with this devastating condition.

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