Monthly Archive for July, 2010
Climbing Through the Window – How to Heal Past Trauma
Especially as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue, more and more people are becoming aware of the debilitating effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Not only war, but natural disaster or a personal trauma such as a sexual assault or a severe accident can also cause PTSD.Memories tied to strong emotion are naturally more vivid. This is a survival mechanism -- strong emotions are associated with important situations, so it is naturally more important to remember those situations in order to avoid them in future (or seek them out, in the case of strong positive emotions).
Tea for Two
Tea has been a mainstay of civilizations around the world for centuries. Parties are held in its honor; time is dedicated to its consumption every afternoon; books, poems, songs, and proverbs have extolled its virtues. Debate surrounds the making of the perfect cup of tea, and the type of tea one drinks is said to reveal the true nature of a person. Serving tea is steeped in nuances of social etiquette. Still, throughout the world, tea drinkers rejoice in new research that claims tea is not just good for the soul, but good for the body, as well.
Mind your Immune System
Another significant piece in the mind-body puzzle comes from this new study where obsessive-compulsive behavior in mice was cured by a bone marrow transplant.A rare form of a genetic disorder in mice causes a "hair pulling" disorder, very similar to its human counterpart trichotillomania. In their new findings published in Cell, Mario Capecchi and his team at Salt Lake City, Utah found that the basis of this psychological aberration was a reduced population of microglia, which are the immune system cells in the brain. These cells have been long known to be the brain’s scavenger system, playing a vital role in clearing breakdown products and microbes, but its surprising that its depletion leads to a specific form of behavioral disorder.
The Handwriting on the Wall
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have poor penmanship. In turn, poor penmanship leads to decreased success in communication, failed academics, and a lack of self-esteem. Until now, clinicians and autism experts believed that developmental delays were to blame for inferior handwriting skills, but a new study in Neurology reports that weak motor skills may be the cause. And, more importantly, they may be treatable.
Popular Posts
- The Love Drug
- Women After Sex
- Fatty Acids and Suicide Risk
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?
- Intelligence - Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Behind the Masks - The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder
- The NeuroSocial Network
- Inside Your Brain on Holiday
Future Posts
- Drug-Induced Mystical Experience
- Facebook – Coming to a 12-Step Program near You?
Latest Posts
- Therapeutic Analysis of Dreams – A Cognitive-Behavioral Approach
- Small Groups Make Women Stupid
- Psychotherapy and Clinical Boundaries
- The Brain’s Buying Power
- Aging Intelligently
- A Nicotine Patch a Day Keeps the Cognitive Impairment Away
- The Many Emerging Roles of Astrocytes
- Diabetes Impairs Cognition
- Media Violence Leads to Real Violence
- Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
Comments
- Psicologos Barcelona: Richard, tu español es muy bue
- Lage: Alexis,What evidence do yo
- Adi: Hi, with my best intentions an
- Tamara G. Suttle, M.Ed., LPC: Thanks so much, Richard, for d
- PhD: The title of this article is o
- Niobe Chacks: Well;the article is good but i
- Alexis Remm: LageI think that you don´t
- Lage: Alexis,You still never ans
- JamMiester1711: Be careful not to be miss info
- Ron: If there is such a thing as a
- Cory: How about how TV commercials t
- Caoimhin: This was extremely satisfying
