[In Context] Conversations with a neuroscientist
In an era in which fake news is permeating mainstream journalism, it is becoming particularly important that scientific facts are separated from untruths. Coupled with the public's increasing appetite for using different types of media, there are now more ways than ever for those engaged in science research to communicate their work to the general public. After 15 years working in neuroscience research, a position at the Wellcome Trust as part of their science engagement team, participating as a judge for the Man Booker Prize in 2014, and most recently becoming the Director of the Science Gallery, expected to open in Londo...
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 11, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Cheryl Lai Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[In Context] An outsider's journey in brain science
Robert Newman's Neuropolis is an ambitious attempt to provide the layman with a survival guide to current “brain science”, as he terms it. He argues that “brainless interpretations of brain science are…giving us a dehumanising and pessimistic picture of ourselves”, and that this interpretation is based less on science and more on so-called philosophical stowaways. Professionally, Newman is a c omedian; his book stems from his interest in neuroscience and is based on his own research. As a self-proclaimed outsider, he presents a potentially unique insight into the field. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 11, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Isabel Lokody Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[In Context] James Crichton-Browne
A trailblazer of mental health research in the asylum. Born in Edinburgh, UK, on Nov 29, 1840, he died on Jan 31, 1938, in Dumfries, UK. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 5, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Ray Cavanaugh Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[In Context] The Rhythms of Thought
The question of consciousness —how subjective experience can arise from activity in the brain—is arguably the greatest question in science, so much so that it's become well known simply as “the hard problem”, a term introduced by the philosopher David Chalmers. Attempts to answer the question of consciousness draw on man y disciplines—not just neuroscience and psychology, but physics, mathematics, and philosophy as well. Making explorations of this question accessible to a general audience is a hard problem in itself, but Paul Nunez manages to do just that in The New Science of Consciousness. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 5, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Robert Stirrups Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[In Context] Training non-physicians as neurosurgeons in sub-Saharan Africa
The surgical gap in sub-Saharan Africa is a huge problem. Some countries are tackling it by training non-physicians as surgeons - including neurosurgeons. And the results have not been bad. But is it a silver bullet? Adrian Burton investigates. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 5, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Adrian Burton Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[Articles] Assessment of neuroinflammation in patients with idiopathic rapid-eye-movement sleep behaviour disorder: a case-control study
In patients with IRBD, increased microglial activation was detected by PET in the substantia nigra along with reduced dopaminergic function in the putamen. Further studies, including more participants than were in this study and longitudinal follow-up, are needed to support our findings and evaluate whether the presence of activated microglia in patients with IRBD represents a marker of short-term conversion to a clinically defined synucleinopathy in the near future. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 3, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Morten Gersel Stokholm, Alex Iranzo, Karen Østergaard, Mónica Serradell, Marit Otto, Kristina Bacher Svendsen, Alicia Garrido, Dolores Vilas, Per Borghammer, Joan Santamaria, Arne Møller, Carles Gaig, David J Brooks, Eduardo Tolosa, Nicola Pavese Tags: Articles Source Type: research
[In Context] Perspectives on time
You are able to recall the past, imagine the future, and count the passing seconds. Our ability to tell time deserves all the marvel we usually reserve for our other cognitive faculties. Human beings have been telling time for at least as long as we have been able to foresee the advantage that crafting a tool today will bring tomorrow. Whilst it is true that certain members of our extended family in the animal kingdom are able to anticipate future events —jays, for example, demonstrate a remarkable awareness of their food's coming expiry date—human beings undoubtedly possess unrivalled timekeeping abilities. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 3, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Jonathan Blott Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[In Context] Keeping an open mind in neurological practice
A J Lees' Mentored by a Madman is a kaleidoscopic mix of his experiences as a neurologist, his private passions and how they have informed his career, as well as his thoughts regarding some of the bureaucracy that limits research and medical practice today. What gives this book such a unique perspective is the part played by the titular “madman”—William Burroughs, author of iconic novels such as Junky and Naked Lunch. It is a rare thing to find a book with such a unique perspective and accompanying content; however, this is exactly what Mentored by a Madman provides. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 3, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Ava Easton Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[Comment] Imaging neuroinflammation to monitor α-synucleinopathy
Neuroinflammation in neurodegenerative diseases generally refers to a chronic immune response in the CNS, in which innate immune cells such as microglia and astrocytes are responsible for robust inflammatory responses and neuronal death. However, each neurodegenerative disease also has a preclinical period, during which potentially harmful inflammatory events might already be happening. With the advent of disease-modifying drugs, early detection of abnormal signals from the brain milieu during the preclinical phase is important because diagnostic symptoms, once developed, are so relentless that few therapeutic countermeasu...
Source: Lancet Neurology - July 3, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Yasuomi Ouchi Tags: Comment Source Type: research
[In Context] Eric Reiman: aiming to prevent Alzheimer's disease
What will it take to prevent Alzheimer's disease by 2025? Eric Reiman, Executive Director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix (Arizona, USA), has an answer. “It will take the right prevention trials, methods, and enrolment strategies to rapidly test, find and approve prevention therapies in people at genetic or biomarker risk. It will take shared urgency, courage and commitment, new collaborative models, and extensive data sharing. It will take a mult i-faceted approach to optimise availability, affordability, and appropriate use of treatments. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 30, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Tony Kirby Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[Corrections] Corrections
Hensman Moss DJ, Pardi ñas AF, Langbehn D, et al. Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study. Lancet Neurol 2017; published online June 19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30161-8—In the appendix of this article, some of the members of th e Track Investigator list were not listed. This correction has been made in the online version as of June 28, 2017. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 28, 2017 Category: Neurology Tags: Corrections Source Type: research
[In Context] A new non-surgical approach for deep-brain stimulation
Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) can provide meaningful improvement in appropriately selected patients with movement disorders, the procedure is not risk free, and highly trained comprehensive management teams are required for patient screening, surgery, and postoperative management. To date, non-invasive strategies to replicate the therapeutic benefits of DBS have been limited to ablative high-intensity focused ultrasound. Grossman and colleagues now describe a non-surgical method for DBS by use of oscillating electric fields and temporal interference. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 28, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Aysegul Gunduz, Michael S Okun Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[Review] Music-based interventions in neurological rehabilitation
During the past ten years, an increasing number of controlled studies have assessed the potential rehabilitative effects of music-based interventions, such as music listening, singing, or playing an instrument, in several neurological diseases. Although the number of studies and extent of available evidence is greatest in stroke and dementia, there is also evidence for the effects of music-based interventions on supporting cognition, motor function, or emotional wellbeing in people with Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, or multiple sclerosis. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 26, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Aleksi J Sihvonen, Teppo S ärkämö, Vera Leo, Mari Tervaniemi, Eckart Altenmüller, Seppo Soinila Tags: Review Source Type: research
[In Context] Celebrating life in a Death Cafe
“We have one chance to die, and one chance to live because of it.” Are these immortal words about our mortality? They certainly have a ring of truth, but they are not attributed to an ancient philosophical text. They are words spoken by Death Cafe Portland organiser Kate Brassington about her mo tivations for being part of a death positivity movement—one that is centred on the social franchise Death Cafe. (Source: Lancet Neurology)
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 21, 2017 Category: Neurology Authors: Jules Morgan Tags: In Context Source Type: research
[Corrections] Corrections
Bertini E, Dessaud E, Mercuri E, et al, for the Olesoxime SMA Phase 2 Study Investigators. Safety and efficacy of olesoxime in patients with type 2 or non-ambulatory type 3 spinal muscular atrophy:a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial. Lancet Neurol 2017; 17: 513 –22—In the methods section of the summary, the penultimate sentence should read “Safety was assessed in all patients who received one or more doses of the study drug.” The fifth sentence of the first paragraph of the Results section should say “Protocol violations occurred in 32 patients ( 21 [20%] receiving olesoxime…” and the...
Source: Lancet Neurology - June 21, 2017 Category: Neurology Tags: Corrections Source Type: research
