Empathy is the ability and quality that allows humans to feel and understand what others are experiencing. It literally means “with [em-] suffering [-pathos]” as in suffering along with someone else. Empathy is not just emotionally suffering; it is also cognitively understanding what another person is going through; walking in their shoes, per se. Empathy connects people with each other and helps bind societies together.

In one recent study in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society the authors found that 31% of normal adults exhibited low emotional empathy scores on the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES). Read more →

A lady (let’s call her Carla) is driving down a street — it’s 10:00 pm on a Friday night. She thinks about her kids in bed, makes a mental note to check in on them before she goes to bed. She wonders what her boss has in store for her at the 8:00 a.m. meeting that was scheduled a week ago. Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light; a deafening crash, and her world goes black. Sound like a scene from a movie? I wish it were. According to the CDC, 1.4 million people in the USA sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually; 20% of these are caused by motor vehicle accidents (MVA). Fifty thousand of these traumatic brain injuries result in death each year. Carla might never be able to communicate with her children meaningfully. She certainly will not be able to get back to her work any time soon (if ever). Her social network will be disrupted; her schedule will be a series of medical appointments and consultations. Read more →

Once again, I’m dedicating this to folks in more or less advanced recovery from brain injury. Remember, brain damage isn’t just from an impact, there are many illnesses that can cause cognitive impairment. Many people are able to recover very well. Much of this is good for people who just want to maintain their brain as they age. Read more →

If you consider the kinds of things that are said and done regarding cognitive problems, and swapped out the cognitive problem for another issue like race, religion, sexual orientation, or even other disabilities, it wouldn’t be as funny, or tolerable, or even make sense. This article tries to get across why I say cognitive impairments are the last refuge of bigotry in the developed world. Read more →

In an attempt to localize the part of the brain responsible for hunger, surgeons in Toronto inadvertently identified and stimulated a portion of the brain involving in memory and learning. This finding may lead researchers to develop new techniques for improving brain function in dementia.

The surgeon was attempting to implant a deep brain stimulator into the hypothalamus of an obese man, in order to curb his appetite by stimulating brain cells that suppress hunger. Read more →

People with ADD get a day, but brain damage gets the month of March. March seems like a good month for brain damage awareness. However long the winter feels, March is when spring starts to enter our minds. The first warmer breezes are not far off (if you’re in the northern hemisphere and you’re out of the more tropical regions). And indeed, for many of those recovering from brain damage it is a long winter, and the first hints of hope and recovery offer some welcome warmth. Read more →