Articles Tagged ‘technology’
Opinion | By March 09, 2009 | By Joseph Kim, MD, MPH | 0 Comments
Relying on a Peripheral Brain
In the old days, medical students used to walk around with pockets bursting at the seams. Why? Because they were carrying around hand-written notes, cards, and mini textbooks to help them remember all the information they were trying to learn. Many people have described the medical school experience as “drinking out of a fire hydrant.” The volume of information is so great that our limited brains quickly get saturated with information and we’re unable to retain any more data. Read more →
- Why a Smartphone is a Dumb Idea
- The Eighth Leading Cause of Death in the U.S. is…
- Virtual Reality – New Steps in Stroke Rehabilitation
- Brain Prosthesis: Coming to a Hospital Near You?
- Functional MRI: Emerging Uses for Neurological Diseases – Part 2
- Big Tobacco’s Stealth Tactics and the Pellet Technology
A week’s worth of New York Times newspapers contains more information and knowledge than the average person in medieval times saw in their entire life. In our current golden age of technology, we as human beings have come to embrace the notion of computers, and the idea that information is a commodity that must be available immediately. Products on the market in the technology sector are increasingly complex in scope and connectivity, and give us unprecedented access to an enormous yet speedily growing body of information. Nowhere is this trend more glaringly apparent than the recent developments in mobile phone technology. Read more →
The eighth leading cause of death in the U.S. is medication error. This statistic may surprise you. Other frightening statistics include the following:
* 7,000 deaths occur each year that are directly attributable to medication errors.
* Errors occur around 1 in 5 times that medication is administered.
* The FDA estimates 1 death per day due to medication errors.
The three most common errors are giving an improper dose, giving the wrong drug, and giving the drug by the wrong route (for example, intravenous instead of oral). Read more →
Cerebrovascular accident (CVA or stroke) is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the USA; each year about 700,000 people sustain a stroke across the country. Based on the location and size of the lesion, there may be severe and permanent loss of function. The most significant residual effects of a CVA are related to paralysis (hemiplegia), speech disabilities (apraxia, aphasia), and neglect of the affected side. Unilateral neglect is a condition where the patient is unable to identify or respond to any sensory on the affected side of the body; and is more common is a right-sided CVA.
For a large part of the previous century, it was believed that people with stroke would have to lead a largely dependent life, confined to the wheelchair. They were even discouraged from moving their limbs or exercising. Over the years, rehabilitation for patients with stroke has come a long way. Read more →
The possibility of fusing a mechanical device with the human brain becomes a reality.
Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce you to a new piece of technology. Lo and behold, the brain prosthesis. Wait. Did I just say brain prosthesis, as in an artificial replacement of the mind? Yes, that’s right; the brain prosthesis is going to be used to replace the damaged parts of our brain.
Hundreds of individuals who have lost their body parts due to traumatic injuries or congenital defects have already chosen to get artificial replacements. Read more →
Despite the fact that functional MRI was discovered in the early 90’s, scientific research related to its clinical applications is still at an early stage. The first paper on the use of functional MRI (fMRI) in Alzheimer’s disease came out as late as 1999. Today, fMRI is being intensively studied in a number of other clinical areas like dyslexia, epilepsy, mood and anxiety disorders, pain management, rehabilitation after stroke and schizophrenia. Though the application of fMRI in routine neurological practice is still some years away, already our understanding of these disorders and knowledge about mapping progression and treatment effects with fMRI is rapidly progressing. Read more →
Well, if you think that the anti-tobacco lobby has won the war, think again. Do the Wall Street charts show a downtrend – I don’t think so. It’s true that conventional advertising for cigarettes through magazines and billboards is down at its all time low, but recent statistics from the Federal Trade Commission indicate that marketing expenditure by the tobacco industry rose by 22% between 2002-2003, from $12 billion to $15 billion. Marketing strategy had just shifted to more niche-oriented methods like direct mail, event promotions and coupon discounts. Read more →
Friday, March 19, 2010
- Religion - A "Natural" Phenomenon?
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 - The Five Myths
- How Culture Shapes Our Mind and Brain
- Sex, Violence and The Male Warrior Hypothesis
- The Secret to Good Health – Listen to the Data
- If Herbal Medicine is Medicine, Shouldn't it be Treated as Such?
- Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuroscience Conferences for 2010
- Too Much Information?
- "I Feel Your Pain" - The Neural Basis of Empathy
- Income Inequality and Health Outcomes
- The Evolution of Depression
- Journal Retracts Autism Research
- Speaking in Tongues - A Neural Snapshot
- Post-Partum Psychosis - Rare but Real
- Is Your Doctor Happy or Burnt-Out?
- Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective... Again
- Worried Well on the Web
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 - The Solutions
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Bruxism and the Brain
- Let the Matches Begin!
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 4 – Their Life Today
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 3 – Try to Work Out their Troubles
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 2 – Revealed to be Complicated
- My Nephew and his Brain, Part 1 – Introduction
- Deep Brain Stimulation – A New Frontier in Psychiatry
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 3 – Equip Teachers with Prescription Pads?
- Why Some Human Brains Become Leaders, While Others Followers?
- Brain Blogger Finalist for Two 2010 Research Blogging Awards in Neuroscience and Psychology
- Tall Tales of Diabetic Amputations
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 2 – The Solutions
- Brain Blogging, Forty-Ninth Edition
- How Your Brain Groups Words
- The Child Brain and the Playing Teacher
- You Have a Right to Choose if we Agree
- Measuring Quality in Primary Care
- Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me A Match – The NRMP Main Residency Match
- Psychotropics and Youth, Part 1 – The Five Myths
- When It Comes to Aging, Size Matters
- “I Feel Your Pain” – The Neural Basis of Empathy
- Very touching story. My heart goes out to your family. Seizures are tough. And ...
- Thank you for sharing your nephew's story. So hard on those who love him, but I...
- Congratulations to all who've matched! Although the results of NRMP Main Residen...
- It's been almost 25 years since my son suffered a TBI in an accident. He was onl...
- I tend to agree with the teachers.But a teacher can only keep a record about the...
- Very interesting article, the 5th paragraph gets a little biased...but I still e...
- Dear Dan,There is certainly much clinical interest in this field. ClinicalTr...
- I recently commented on a sciencedaily.com article reporting success with TRD an...
- I have family members who are teachers. After sharing this article with them, th...
- It is great that people are challenging the use of this medication. As, a societ...
- I agree with the stand of the teachers and their children's that more than half ...
- I think that there’s also a social aspect to it. If you grow up in an area where...
- I have had epilepsy since I was 9 and am now 42. I have tried about every med. o...
- In this text is a serious error. Brain areas are found that contain religious ex...
- It's amazing how the brain works....
- Organ transplant for unavoidable patients have been around for quite some time a...
- Diet plays a major role in having diabetes. In today's world, people are finding...
- Interesting... I think that there's also a social aspect to it. If you grow up i...
- I think the article is actually describing a normal human being. Leadership tra...
- I think that applies to leaders within certain fields of knowledge or creativity...

