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Brain Blogger covers topics from multidimensional biopsychosocial perspectives. It reviews the latest news and stories related to neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology. It serves as a focal point for attracting new minds beyond the science of the mind-and-brain and into the biopsychosocial model.
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by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Throughout the history of human civilization, wars have a common feature of being practiced primarily by males. This group aggression by males is a persistent trait of human behavior, seen across different continents among civilizations that have developed independent of each other.
Also, experimental evidence suggests that compared to females, male behavior and psychology is more [...]... Read more »
Kaplan, H. (2009) Sex, War (and Ecology). Science, 326(5950), 232-233. DOI: 10.1126/science.1176071
Van Vugt, M., De Cremer, D., & Janssen, D. (2007) Gender Differences in Cooperation and Competition: The Male-Warrior Hypothesis. Psychological Science, 18(1), 19-23. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01842.x
Campbell, A. (1999) Staying alive: Evolution, culture, and women's intrasexual aggression. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22(02). DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X99001818
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Physicians are under mounting pressure to increase efficiency in the provision of medical care. That is, see more patients in less time for less money. But, since speed and accuracy do not always go hand-in-hand, does this increased physician efficiency lead to quality medical care? A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine [...]... Read more »
Olfson, M., Cherry, D., & Lewis-Fernandez, R. (2009) Racial Differences in Visit Duration of Outpatient Psychiatric Visits. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(2), 214-221. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2008.523
Chen, L., Farwell, W., & Jha, A. (2009) Primary Care Visit Duration and Quality: Does Good Care Take Longer?. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(20), 1866-1872. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.341
Linder, J. (2003) Association between antibiotic prescribing and visit duration in adults with upper respiratory tract infections. Clinical Therapeutics, 25(9), 2419-2430. DOI: 10.1016/S0149-2918(03)80284-9
Lo, A., Ryder, K., & Shorr, R. (2005) Relationship Between Patient Age and Duration of Physician Visit in Ambulatory Setting: Does One Size Fit All?. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(7), 1162-1167. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53367.x
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The statistics are everywhere: most of the adults in the United States are overweight or obese. These conditions are, of course, responsible for increased health care costs owing to chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. The patient may pick up some of these excess expenses, but society incurs [...]... Read more »
Anderson, L., Quinn, T., Glanz, K., Ramirez, G., Kahwati, L., Johnson, D., Buchanan, L., Archer, W., Chattopadhyay, S., & Kalra, G. (2009) The Effectiveness of Worksite Nutrition and Physical Activity Interventions for Controlling Employee Overweight and ObesityA Systematic Review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37(4), 340-357. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2009.07.003
Lightwood, J., Bibbins-Domingo, K., Coxson, P., Wang, Y., Williams, L., & Goldman, L. (2009) Forecasting the Future Economic Burden of Current Adolescent Overweight: An Estimate of the Coronary Heart Disease Policy Model. American Journal of Public Health, 99(12), 2230-2237. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.152595
Han, E., Norton, E., & Stearns, S. (2009) Weight and wages: fat versus lean paychecks. Health Economics, 18(5), 535-548. DOI: 10.1002/hec.1386
Clarke, P., O'Malley, P., Johnston, L., & Schulenberg, J. (2008) Social disparities in BMI trajectories across adulthood by gender, race/ethnicity and lifetime socio-economic position: 1986-2004. International Journal of Epidemiology, 38(2), 499-509. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyn214
Heraclides, A., & Brunner, E. (2009) Social mobility and social accumulation across the life-course in relation to adult overweight and obesity: The Whitehall II study. Journal of Epidemiology . DOI: 10.1136/jech.2009.087692
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Whatever you do, don’t think of a white bear. Go on, close your eyes, relax, but don’t think of a white bear… So, what happened? Most likely, you were overwhelmed by thoughts of a white bear. This mini-experiment highlights the fascinating paradox of thought suppression. That is, once we explicitly try not to think of [...]... Read more »
Wegner, D., Schneider, D., Carter, S., & White, T. (1987) Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(1), 5-13. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.53.1.5
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Is your doctor happy? This is something that may have never crossed your mind: the idea that your personal physician may not be pleased with the current state of his or her life. Even if it has, perhaps you were of the opinion that it was not of minor importance if it did not affect [...]... Read more »
Sargent MC, Sotile W, Sotile MO, Rubash H, & Barrack RL. (2009) Quality of life during orthopaedic training and academic practice. Part 1: orthopaedic surgery residents and faculty. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 91(10), 2395-405. PMID: 19797575
Ricci WM, Gallagher B, Brandt A, Schwappach J, Tucker M, & Leighton R. (2009) Is after-hours orthopaedic surgery associated with adverse outcomes? A prospective comparative study. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 91(9), 2067-72. PMID: 19723981
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Up to half of drug therapy is ineffective, according to recent statistics. This leaves patients’ diseases untreated, but also places them at risk for side effects and drug interactions. The reason for the unpredictability in the effectiveness of medication comes from a variety of factors: individual differences in enzymes that metabolize drugs, variations in drug [...]... Read more »
Abrahams, E., Ginsburg, G., & Silver, M. (2005) The Personalized Medicine Coalition. American Journal of PharmacoGenomics, 5(6), 345-355. DOI: 10.2165/00129785-200505060-00002
Dean, C. (2009) Personalized Medicine: Boon or Budget-Buster?. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 43(5), 958-962. DOI: 10.1345/aph.1L563
Leeder, J., & Spielberg, S. (2009) Personalized Medicine: Reality and Reality Checks. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 43(5), 963-966. DOI: 10.1345/aph.1M065
Rovin, B., McKinley, A., & Birmingham, D. (2009) Can We Personalize Treatment for Kidney Diseases?. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 4(10), 1670-1676. DOI: 10.2215/CJN.04140609
Wiechec, E., & Hansen, L. (2009) The effect of genetic variability on drug response in conventional breast cancer treatment. European Journal of Pharmacology, 625(1-3), 122-130. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2009.08.045
Campbell, D., & Levitt, P. (2008) Future of individualized psychiatric treatment. Pharmacogenomics, 9(5), 493-495. DOI: 10.2217/14622416.9.5.493
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
A recent study proved what we all already know… that healthy living really does improve long-term health. A lot. The US-based study found that not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight (BMI <30), exercising regularly (3.5 hours/week) and eating a balanced diet (high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, low in meat) reduced the risk of [...]... Read more »
Ford, E., Bergmann, M., Kroger, J., Schienkiewitz, A., Weikert, C., & Boeing, H. (2009) Healthy Living Is the Best Revenge: Findings From the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam Study. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(15), 1355-1362. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.237
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
If we are what we eat, then we might expect children who eat a lot of candy to be sweet and lovable. Quite the opposite, according to recent research. Authors of a study published in a recent issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry claim that children who eat a lot of confectionery treats are [...]... Read more »
Moore, S., Carter, L., & van Goozen, S. (2009) Confectionery consumption in childhood and adult violence. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 195(4), 366-367. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.061820
Melchior, M., Caspi, A., Howard, L., Ambler, A., Bolton, H., Mountain, N., & Moffitt, T. (2009) Mental Health Context of Food Insecurity: a Representative Cohort of Families With Young Children. PEDIATRICS, 124(4). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-0583
Bohannon, J. (2009) The Theory? Diet Causes Violence. The Lab? Prison. Science, 325(5948), 1614-1616. DOI: 10.1126/science.325_1614
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
It’s a phenomenon that medical educators have long suspected but haven’t been able to prove: a rise in medical errors when newly-hatched physicians begin their residency training programs in July. This suspected occurrence has been studied several times, but until recently, no conclusive evidence existed that it actually was true. For the first time, a [...]... Read more »
Haller, G., Myles, P., Taffe, P., Perneger, T., & Wu, C. (2009) Rate of undesirable events at beginning of academic year: retrospective cohort study. BMJ, 339(oct13 1). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b3974
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
I once treated a patient who was in her 90s. She was less than 5 feet tall and had never weighed more than 90 pounds. But, she was tough as nails and had lived a great life. I came to advocate for her when the internist at the skilled nursing facility in which she lived [...]... Read more »
Esserman, L., Shieh, Y., & Thompson, I. (2009) Rethinking Screening for Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 302(15), 1685-1692. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.1498
Greenwald P. (2007) A favorable view: progress in cancer prevention and screening. Recent results in cancer research. Fortschritte der Krebsforschung. Progres dans les recherches sur le cancer, 3-17. PMID: 17302181
GREENWALD, P. (2008) S1. Do we make optimal use of the potential of cancer prevention?. European Journal of Cancer Supplements, 6(3), 1-1. DOI: 10.1016/S1359-6349(08)70193-9
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Millions of people around the world suffer from depression, the most common mental disorder of all. Since depression appears to be largely genetic, several long-standing questions continue to bedevil researchers. Have the genes for clinical unipolar depression undergone selective evolution–or is depression a random product of mutation, evolutionary drift, or other non-selective forces?
The symptoms of [...]... Read more »
Andrews, P., & Thomson, J. (2009) The bright side of being blue: Depression as an adaptation for analyzing complex problems. Psychological Review, 116(3), 620-654. DOI: 10.1037/a0016242
Watson, P. (2002) Toward a revised evolutionary adaptationist analysis of depression: the social navigation hypothesis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 72(1), 1-14. DOI: 10.1016/S0165-0327(01)00459-1
Hertel, Jochen Neuhof, Thomas Theue, G. (2000) Mood effects on cooperation in small groups: Does positive mood simply lead to more cooperation?. Cognition , 14(4), 441-472. DOI: 10.1080/026999300402754
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The search for eternal youth is as old as time itself. The theme of immortality winds its way through religion, mythology, poetry, fiction, and modern movies. Usually, stories of those who have achieved immortality expose the curse of eternal life, rather than the blessing of perpetual youth. While living forever may never be possible, life [...]... Read more »
Um, S., D'Alessio, D., & Thomas, G. (2006) Nutrient overload, insulin resistance, and ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1, S6K1. Cell Metabolism, 3(6), 393-402. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmet.2006.05.003
Christensen, K., Doblhammer, G., Rau, R., & Vaupel, J. (2009) Ageing populations: the challenges ahead. The Lancet, 374(9696), 1196-1208. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61460-4
Selman, C., Tullet, J., Wieser, D., Irvine, E., Lingard, S., Choudhury, A., Claret, M., Al-Qassab, H., Carmignac, D., Ramadani, F.... (2009) Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinase 1 Signaling Regulates Mammalian Life Span. Science, 326(5949), 140-144. DOI: 10.1126/science.1177221
Sadovsky, R. (2009) Facilitating healthy aging among men: making some impact. Journal of Men's Health, 6(2), 98-100. DOI: 10.1016/j.jomh.2009.02.002
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
You have seen movies in which characters have acted violently. Many times, these characters also have a mental illness. Violence is one common stereotype of psychological disorders, along with rebellion and child-like behavior. In The Dark Knightand Me, Myself, and Irene, a character has multiple personality disorder, which is said to cause demonic or mean [...]... Read more »
Corrigan, P. (2002) The Paradox of Self-Stigma and Mental Illness. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9(1), 35-53. DOI: 10.1093/clipsy/9.1.35
Boyd Ritsher, J. (2003) Internalized stigma of mental illness: psychometric properties of a new measure. Psychiatry Research, 121(1), 31-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2003.08.008
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
The completion of the sequencing of the human genome in 2003 was an outstanding scientific accomplishment. This achievement, together with advances in technology and the forces of capitalism and competition, has brought genetic testing directly to the consumer. However, this Pandora’s box is proving difficult to manage for many people.
Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests are marketed [...]... Read more »
Wilde, A., Meiser, B., Mitchell, P., & Schofield, P. (2009) Public interest in predictive genetic testing, including direct-to-consumer testing, for susceptibility to major depression: preliminary findings. European Journal of Human Genetics. DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2009.138
Borry, P., Howard, H., Sénécal, K., & Avard, D. (2009) Health-related direct-to-consumer genetic testing: a review of companies’ policies with regard to genetic testing in minors. Familial Cancer. DOI: 10.1007/s10689-009-9253-9
Boddington, P. (2009) The ethics and regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Genome Medicine, 1(7), 71. DOI: 10.1186/gm71
Kaye, J. (2008) The regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests. Human Molecular Genetics, 17(R2). DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddn253
Farkas, D., & Holland, C. (2009) Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: Two Sides of the Coin. Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, 11(4), 263-265. DOI: 10.2353/jmoldx.2009.090034
Bowen, D., Harris, J., Jorgensen, C., Myers, M., & Kuniyuki, A. (2009) Socioeconomic Influences on the Effects of a Genetic Testing Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Campaign. Public Health Genomics. DOI: 10.1159/000231722
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Dizziness is responsible for nearly 3 million emergency room visits every year in the United States. In most of the cases, the dizziness is caused by a benign inner ear problem, or is the result of short-lived discomfort or distress, including anxiety, depression, or certain phobias. However, approximately 4% of patients that present to the [...]... Read more »
Newman-Toker, D., & Pronovost, P. (2009) Diagnostic Errors--The Next Frontier for Patient Safety. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 301(10), 1060-1062. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.249
Kruschinski, C., & Hummers-Pradier, E. (2008) Diagnosing Dizziness in the Emergency and Primary Care Settings. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 83(11), 1297-1298. DOI: 10.4065/83.11.1297-a
Newman-Toker, D., Kattah, J., Alvernia, J., & Wang, D. (2008) Normal head impulse test differentiates acute cerebellar strokes from vestibular neuritis. Neurology, 70(Iss 24, Part 2), 2378-2385. DOI: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000314685.01433.0d
Kattah, J., Talkad, A., Wang, D., Hsieh, Y., & Newman-Toker, D. (2009) HINTS to Diagnose Stroke in the Acute Vestibular Syndrome. Three-Step Bedside Oculomotor Examination More Sensitive Than Early MRI Diffusion-Weighted Imaging. Stroke. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.551234
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Cognitive enhancers, also known as nootropics, are a category of drugs with the ability to increase mental performance. Many rave about such “smart drugs” helping them to study, take tests, or increase work performance. Ginkgo biloba, piracetam, and vinpocetine are some popular cognitive enhancers, all with varying mechanisms of action in the human brain. For [...]... Read more »
Hubel DH, Wiesel TN, & LeVay S. (1977) Plasticity of ocular dominance columns in monkey striate cortex. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 278(961), 377-409. PMID: 19791
Medina AE, Krahe TE, & Ramoa AS. (2006) Restoration of neuronal plasticity by a phosphodiesterase type 1 inhibitor in a model of fetal alcohol exposure. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26(3), 1057-60. PMID: 16421325
Molnár P, & Gaál L. (1992) Effect of different subtypes of cognition enhancers on long-term potentiation in the rat dentate gyrus in vivo. European journal of pharmacology, 215(1), 17-22. PMID: 1516646
Szatmari SZ, & Whitehouse PJ. (2003) Vinpocetine for cognitive impairment and dementia. Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online). PMID: 12535455
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
A solution to an abnormal neurological movement problem can perhaps be abnormal as well. The irregular wiring of the brain may actually eliminate dystonia — repetitive movements and atypical postures. According to the Journal of Neuroscience, changes in brain pathways may actually counteract the genetic mutations for the movement disorder. This idea can explain why [...]... Read more »
Johnson MD, Miocinovic S, McIntyre CC, & Vitek JL. (2008) Mechanisms and targets of deep brain stimulation in movement disorders. Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics, 5(2), 294-308. PMID: 18394571
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Men and women of the United States military are suffering from mental illnesses at an increasing rate. Among service members involved in the on-going conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, recent research found that nearly two-thirds displayed signs or symptoms of mental illness, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, or substance or alcohol abuse. Treating veterans [...]... Read more »
Copeland, L. (2003) Racial Disparity in the Use of Atypical Antipsychotic Medications Among Veterans. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(10), 1817-1822. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.160.10.1817
Radley, D. (2006) Off-label Prescribing Among Office-Based Physicians. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(9), 1026-1026. DOI: 10.1001/archinte.166.9.1021
Vasterling, J., Verfaellie, M., & Sullivan, K. (2009) Mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder in returning veterans: Perspectives from cognitive neuroscience. Clinical Psychology Review. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.08.004
Chen, D., Wynia, M., Moloney, R., & Alexander, G. (2009) U.S. physician knowledge of the FDA-approved indications and evidence base for commonly prescribed drugs: results of a national survey. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. DOI: 10.1002/pds.1825
Walton, S., Schumock, G., Lee, K., Alexander, G., Meltzer, D., & Stafford, R. (2008) Prioritizing Future Research on Off-Label Prescribing: Results of a Quantitative Evaluation. Pharmacotherapy, 28(12), 1443-1452. DOI: 10.1592/phco.28.12.1443
Leslie, D., Mohamed, S., & Rosenheck, R. (2009) Off-Label Use of Antipsychotic Medications in the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Psychiatric Services, 60(9), 1175-1181. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.60.9.1175
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Most people would agree that culture can have a large effect on our daily lives — influencing what we may wear, say, or find humorous. But many people may be surprised to learn that culture may even effect how our brain responds to different stimuli. Indeed, until recently, most psychology and neuroscience researchers took for [...]... Read more »
ZHU, Y., ZHANG, L., FAN, J., & HAN, S. (2007) Neural basis of cultural influence on self-representation. NeuroImage, 34(3), 1310-1316. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.08.047
by Shaheen Lakhan in Brain Blogger
Depression is a major health concern worldwide, and is the second leading cause of disability for people of reproductive age (15 to 44 years), according to the World Health Organization. Women experience depression two to three times more frequently than men. Depression can be devastating for these women in general, but it can lead to [...]... Read more »
Gavin, A., Holzman, C., Siefert, K., & Tian, Y. (2009) Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Depression, and Psychiatric Medication Use in Relation to Risk of Preterm Delivery. Women's Health Issues, 19(5), 325-334. DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2009.05.004
Leung, B., & Kaplan, B. (2009) Perinatal Depression: Prevalence, Risks, and the Nutrition Link—A Review of the Literature. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(9), 1566-1575. DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.06.368
Salisbury, A., Ponder, K., Padbury, J., & Lester, B. (2009) Fetal Effects of Psychoactive Drugs. Clinics in Perinatology, 36(3), 595-619. DOI: 10.1016/j.clp.2009.06.002
Yonkers, K. (2009) Parsing Risk for the Use of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Pregnancy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166(3), 268-270. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08111703
Yonkers, K., Smith, M., Gotman, N., & Belanger, K. (2009) Typical somatic symptoms of pregnancy and their impact on a diagnosis of major depressive disorder☆☆☆. General Hospital Psychiatry, 31(4), 327-333. DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2009.03.005
Yonkers, K., Wisner, K., Stewart, D., Oberlander, T., Dell, D., Stotland, N., Ramin, S., Chaudron, L., & Lockwood, C. (2009) The management of depression during pregnancy: a report from the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists☆☆☆. General Hospital Psychiatry, 31(5), 403-413. DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2009.04.003
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