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Notes, News and Views

The most exciting frontier in human knowledge right now is the human brain. We focus on sharing research that has a practical bent: food, exercise, sleep, memory improvement, supplements and so on. We also cover personal experiences with brain and mind training. Occasional guest writers share their perspectives on brain enhancement and scientific discovery. Enjoy!

Reversing Alzheimer's: Is This Crazy Talk?

7/28/2016

1 Comment

 
By Paddy Kamen, publisher BetterBrainBetterLife.com
PictureDale Bredesen
Is it possible to turn Alzheimer’s around, to have someone walk back from a diagnosis, return to work, recall foreign languages that were lost to them, and re-grow hippocampal volume? The latest research says yes, but is that research sound? This article covers the details of this groundbreaking research, along with criticism of it. 

What constitutes crazy talk with respect to Alzheimer's treatment may be a matter of opinion. Click 'Read More' below to see where the battle lines are being drawn. 


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Dementia Patients Sought for Exciting Research

1/6/2015

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PictureMarvin Berman, Ph.D.
Infrared Light Helps Dementia Patients

We're pleased to welcome Marvin Berman as a guest writer. His work with depression, anxiety, addictions and learning disabilities is now augmented by his research into near-infrared light stimulation (NIRS) to the brain. As you will read, he is seeking dementia patients for a two-year study into NIRS combined with neurofeedback. In this, the International Year of Light, Dr. Berman's research is both timely and very promising for humankind.


By Marvin H. Berman, Ph.D.

A diagnosis of dementia can be terrifying to patients and their loved ones. Some psychologists are suggesting that we should not even use the word ‘dementia’ when describing test results, saying it is preferable to talk about the ‘memory challenges’ and ‘executive functioning deficits’. The wife of a patient of mine who is struggling with short-term memory loss and expressive aphasia (can’t find the right word), recently told me she feared that if her husband was told that he probably had Alzheimer’s, he might commit suicide. She therefore spent countless hours and huge sums of money trying different methods to improve his condition but wouldn’t tell him what she knew and forbade the doctors from informing him directly of his diagnosis.


But avoidance and denial create tremendous stress on the family, coloring all interactions to the point where everyone puts their energies into ensuring they don’t say something they shouldn’t. Instead of denial, families need to spend time talking about what’s really important, namely the time they spend together, including their feelings about the unknowns they are all facing as the disease progresses. Finding ways to support one another takes time and thought and support from doctors and other experts, as well as the growing dementia-support community.

What patients and families need most is a sense of hope that something can be done to stop the progression of memory loss. Several hundred drug trials worldwide have so far been unsuccessful and interest is now focusing on new alternative approaches. As a neuroscientist, clinician and researcher (I founded the Quietmind Foundation and Quietmind Associates Brain Enhancement and Treatment Center in Plymouth Meeting, PA, 15 years ago), I’ve been working with brainwave biofeedback or neurofeedback (NFB), and near-infrared light stimulation (NIRS) to the brain for the past seven years. I’m very encouraged with the results we’re seeing with these technologies and I believe they hold great promise for those affected by neurodegenerative diseases including dementia and Parkinson’s disease.


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Simple Test Scary News for Adult Children of Alzheimer's Patients

11/5/2014

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PictureLauren Sergio

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

A brain that is in trouble can’t allow you to think and move at the same time. So says Lauren Sergio, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science at Toronto’s York University. Sergio and her colleague, Ph.D. candidate Kara Hawkins, used this fact to develop a simple test that predicts with over 80 percent accuracy who is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Her test should frighten everyone who has a parent with this diagnosis.


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Vitamin D and Schizophrenia

7/26/2014

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Picture
A new meta-analysis of the relationship between vitamin D levels and schizophrenia shows that people with this disease, characterized by hallucinations and delusions, have significantly lower levels of vitamin D in their blood than do controls.

The research, led by Dr. Ahmad Esmaillzadeh of the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, reviewed 19 studies of the link between vitamin D and schizophrenia in almost 3,000 adults. Sixty-five percent of the participants with schizophrenia were vitamin D-deficient.


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Hearing Loss Shrinks the Brain

1/31/2014

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By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

When the ears don’t hear properly the whole brain is unhappy! In fact, it shrinks, both as a  whole and in particular areas.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and the National Institute on Aging found that areas of the brain responsible for memory and sensory integration atrophied faster in those with hearing loss. These areas (middle and inferior temporal gyri, for example) have been implicated in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

This certainly makes a case for treating hearing loss quickly! I wonder if remedial brain training could help those affected by hearing loss?

Read more at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811914000032

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Mom’s Brain, My Fears

7/11/2013

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By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

My mother began experiencing mini-strokes about 15 years ago. She’s now 87 and has had full-blown dementia for at least five years. Before mom became incapable, she named me as her attorney for personal care (or substitute decision maker). This means I have a decision-making veto in the event that she is unable to make her own health care decisions. This is clearly the case now.

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Homocysteine and B Vitamins: Significant Help for a Shrinking Brain

6/5/2013

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By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

If you think your brain might be shrinking (due to aging, poor memory, or signs of dementia) you’ll want to know about the relationship between homocysteine and B vitamins.

Researchers at the University of Oxford recently published study results that show significantly reduced brain atrophy in pre-dementia patients (those with Mild Cognitive Impairment) as a result of B vitamin supplementation.

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Is Mannitol Manna from Heaven for Parkinson’s Disease?

4/19/2013

3 Comments

 
By Guest Writer Samantha Zhang, Ph.D.

Parkinson’s is a terrible disease that eats away at the control of one’s body movements. As the dopamine-generating cells in the midbrain die, sufferers may continue to lose more of themselves with cognitive and behavioral issues such as dementia setting in. No one knows what causes the death of these cells.

Public figures such as Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali have increased awareness of the disease, which was first described in 1817. But while it’s been almost 200 years since English scientist Dr. James Parkinson published An Essay in the Shaking Palsy, there is still no cure.

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