Brainstorms Heard of the Brainstorm Consortium? A worldwide group of dozens of researchers is trying to understand diagnosis from the bottom up, starting with your genes. In a recent paper in Science, the group looked at 25 “brain associated” disorder, ten of them psychiatric, fifteen neurologic. They sorted them through GWASS – genome wide association […]
Is ADD a Sleep Disorder? (5/6/13)
The Newest Epidemic ADD is now “epidemic” across America. With 13% of adolescents “diagnosed” in national surveys, people want to know just how big a problem ADD is. A recent article by psychiatrist by Vatsal Thakkar in the NY Times argued much of ADD may be misdiagnosed sleep disorders. Himself once diagnosed as suffering from […]
Different Brains (12/11/12)
Different Ways of Thinking Different people, different brains. But as George Orwell might have said, some brains are “more” different than others. People with “mental illness” or “learning disabilities” like dyslexia often experience lifelong reproach, ostracism and discrimination. Tell an employer you are “bipolar” and you may lose that job. No matter what your capacities […]
Can we learn to multitask? (1/26/11)
Death TV The brain only does well one task at a time; multitasking is becoming the norm at work and play. The contradiction represented in those two statements is now being played out for keeps in emergency services and the American military. Utilizing large amounts of instantaneous information can save many lives; it can also […]