Brief Guide to the CTE Brains in the News. Part 1: Aaron Hernandez
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the neurodegenerative disease of the moment, made famous by the violent and untimely deaths of many retired professional athletes. Repeated blows to the head sustained in contact sports such asboxing and American football can result in abnormal accumulations oftau protein (usually many years later). The autopsied brains from two of these individuals are shown below.Left: courtesy of Dr. Ann McKee inNYT. Right: courtesy of Dr. Bennett Omalu inCNN. These are coronal sections1 from the autopsied brains of: (L) Aaron Hernandez, aged 27; and(R) Fred McNeill, aged 63.Both men played...
Source: The Neurocritic - December 4, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Brief Guide to the CTE Brains in the News. Part 1: Aaron Hernandez
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is the neurodegenerative disease of the moment, made famous by the violent and untimely deaths of many retired professional athletes. Repeated blows to the head sustained in contact sports such asboxing and American football can result in abnormal accumulations oftau protein (usually many years later). The autopsied brains from two of these individuals are shown below.Left: courtesy of Dr. Ann McKee inNYT. Right: courtesy of Dr. Bennett Omalu inCNN. These are coronal sections1 from the autopsied brains of: (L) Aaron Hernandez, aged 27; and(R) Fred O ' Neill, aged 63.Both men play...
Source: The Neurocritic - December 4, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Can a Computer Algorithm Identify Suicidal People from Brain Scans? The Answer Won't Surprise You
Just et al. 2017Death by suicide is a preventable tragedy if the suicidal individual is identified and receives appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, some suicidal individuals do not signal their intent, and others do not receive essential assistance. Youths with severe suicidal ideation are not taken seriously in many cases, and thus are not admitted to emergency rooms. A common scenario is that resources are scarce, the ER is backed up, and a cursory clinical assessment will determine who is admitted and who will be triaged. From a practical standpoint, using fMRI to determine suicide risk is a non-starter.Yet here we ar...
Source: The Neurocritic - November 2, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Can a Computer Algorithm Identify Suicidal People from Brain Scans? The Answer Won't Surprise You
Just et al. 2017Death by suicide is a preventable tragedy if the suicidal individual is identified and receives appropriate treatment. Unfortunately, some suicidal individuals do not signal their intent, and others do not receive essential assistance. Youths with severe suicidal ideation are not taken seriously in many cases, and thus are not admitted to emergency rooms. A common scenario is that resources are scarce, the ER is backed up, and a cursory clinical assessment will determine who is admitted and who will be triaged. From a practical standpoint, using fMRI to determine suicide risk is a non-starter.Yet here we ar...
Source: The Neurocritic - November 2, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
The Devilish Side of Psychiatry
Final Destination 3 (2006)The devil always experienced malicious pleasure in imposing himself in neuropsychiatric nosologyOlry and Haines (2017) published a mischievous article in theJournal of the History of the Neurosciences:Having an inquiring mind by nature, the Devil always managed to interfere in all spheres of human activity, including the sciences. ... Biologists use an enzyme called “luciferase” — Lucifer has been described as the “light-bearing” fallen angel, hence the bioluminescence — to spot certain proteins by chromogenous reactions (Lodish et al., 2005, p. 92). ...But how did the Devil get a foot...
Source: The Neurocritic - October 31, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
BROADEN Trial of DBS for Treatment-Resistant Depression No Better than Sham
Website for theBROADEN™ study, which was terminated bythesponsor.A multi-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial ofdeep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment-resistant depression has failed, according to a new article inLancet Psychiatry. The targeted brain region was bilateralsubcallosal cingulate white matter, which had been called the “Depression Switch” based on acute stimulation studies at Emory. These disappointing results were not surprising, since they were covered byNeurotech Business Report in December 2013 and then in depth by my postshere andhere. The new paper followed the patie...
Source: The Neurocritic - October 10, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
BROADEN Trial of DBS for Treatment-Resistant Depression No Better than Sham
Website for theBROADEN™ study, which was terminated by thesponsor.A multi-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial ofdeep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment-resistant depression has failed, according to a new article inLancet Psychiatry. The targeted brain region was bilateralsubcallosal cingulate white matter, which had been called the “Depression Switch” based on acute stimulation studies at Emory. These disappointing results were not surprising, since they were covered byNeurotech Business Report in December 2013 and then in depth by my postshere andhere. The new paper followed the pati...
Source: The Neurocritic - October 10, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Neuroexistentialism: A Brain in Search of Meaning
[image fromHuth et al., 2016]No, not“meaning” in the semantic sense... “Neuroexistentialism” is the angst that some humans feel upon realizing that the mind and spirit have an entirely physical basis. At a personal level I don ' t understand all the hubbub, because I accepted thatmind = brain when I entered graduate school to study neuroscience. But for others:“Coming to terms with the neural basis of who we are can be very unnerving. It has been called“neuroexistentialism”, which really captures the essence of it. We ’re not in the habit of thinking about ourselves that way” (Churchland, 2013). ...
Source: The Neurocritic - September 19, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Survival and Grief
There is no transcendent moment of growth or meaning in watching a childhood friend die of cancer. There is no learning experience that will somehow make me stronger. Only horror, helplessness, loss, and grief. I am deriving no spiritual uplift from this experience, only depression and despair. If someone wants to talk to me about post-traumatic growth, I will spray paint their car.Others disagree with me, I ' m sure of it. For religious reasons. And I will respect their beliefs. There is no point in being a skeptical asshole to a grieving family.The most important point here is that dying patients should not have to suffe...
Source: The Neurocritic - September 4, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Smell as a Weapon, and Odor as Entertainment
The use of smell as a weapon, or a deterrent, was explored in a fanciful way in myprevious post on nuclear threats. While poking around the literature, I found a fascinating unclassified document from the Army Research Laboratory,Olfaction Warfare: Odor as Sword and Shield (PDF). The authors provide a sweeping overview of odor, from chemical tactics in the natural world to the use of scents in the beauty and entertainment industries. The primary military application discussed by Schmeisser et al. (2013) is the use of odor in stealth operations. These are designed to deceive the enemy by masking current location or projecti...
Source: The Neurocritic - August 19, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
Olfactory Deterrence
A military aide carries the “nuclear football” aboard the Marine One helicopter in which President Trump was waiting to depart the South Lawn of the White House on Feb. 3. (Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency). viaWashington Post.August 6, 1945– President Harry S. Truman, announcing thebombing of Hiroshima:“If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” (video)[Trump was less than a year old.]August 8, 2017– President Donald Trump:“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met wi...
Source: The Neurocritic - August 13, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs
