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Posts

February 10, 2013

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6:52 PM | Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and a Possible Origin for Placental Mammals 65 Million Years Ago: New Roundup February 2013 1st Edition (Updated 10.2.13)
The Alzheimer’s Research Forum has just expanded and added to their risk factor database for Alzheiemer’s Disease which includes a meta-analysis of study data on the 10 risk factors they include. Researchers have looked at gene variants in older adults and children. Hypothesising that gene variants that were more common in older adults promoted longevity [...]
The Amazing World of Psychiatry
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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7:07 AM | Bingeing and Purging Marathons: Repeated Binge/Purge Cycles in Bulimia Nervosa
I used to call them bingeing and purging marathons. If I binged and purged in the morning, chances were, I’d binge and purge throughout the day. The next time I’d eat, I was likely to end up–whether I wanted to or not–bingeing and purging. Not all individuals with bulimia nervosa binge and purge every day (or purge everything they eat, for that matter), but many do, and some binge and purge multiple times a day. In recovery, many people start by trying not to binge and […]

Johnson, W., Jarrell, M., Chupurdia, K. & Williamson, D. (2010). Repeated binge/purge cycles in bulimia nervosa: Role of glucose and insulin, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 15 (4) 331-341. DOI:

Science of Eating Disorders
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
Citation
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12:20 AM | Metallomics analysis and autism
As an avid follower of several of the -omics, I was interested to read the report by Hiroshi Yasuda and colleagues* (open-access) on the application of a new -omics to me, metallomics - think metals affecting cellular functions - and in particular, the application of metallomics to autism.This is not the first time that the work of Hiroshi Yasuda has appeared on this blog, as per my previous entry on 'the link with zinc' highlighting some interesting findings of zinc deficiency in quite a […]

Yasuda H, Kobayashi M, Yasuda Y & Tsutsui T (2013). Estimation of autistic children by metallomics analysis., Scientific reports, 3 1199. PMID:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation

February 09, 2013

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6:29 PM | The Neuroanatomy of the Somatosensory Cortex
I put together this video about Brodmann Area 1 – which is the Somatosensory Cortex. The video features an outline of Brodmann’s description of this area as well as videos illustrating the central sulcus (upper right) and post-central gyrus (lower right). Twitter: You can follow ‘The Amazing World of Psychiatry’ Twitter by clicking on this link. [...]
The Amazing World of Psychiatry
Neuroscience | Psychiatry

February 08, 2013

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4:59 PM | Friday Weird Science: Pubic Hair goes Public
Sci is at Neurotic Physiology today, looking at a recent survey. Surveys can provide us with powerful information on diet, poisonings, exercise habits. Hospital surveys can give us ideas of epidemiology, rates of cancer, rates of heart attacks. And they can tell us a little about people’s pubic hair. What, you think people don’t LOOK [...]
The Scicurious Brain
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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4:59 AM | Medical Complications of Purging in Bulimia Nervosa
Eating disorders are mental disorders with physical complications. Sometimes lots of them. I’ve blogged before about medical complications that are likely to come up in an emergency room setting, but that was a while ago. So I thought today I’ll focus specifically on medical complications  that occur in bulimia nervosa (BN) as a result of purging (self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, and diuretic abuse). These complications are particularly important because patients with BN […]

Mehler, P. (2010). Medical complications of bulimia nervosa and their treatments, International Journal of Eating Disorders, DOI:

Science of Eating Disorders
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
Citation

February 07, 2013

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9:45 AM | More GI symptoms reported in cases of autism
The real Star Wars... @ Wikipedia  The paper by Susie Chandler and colleagues* adds to the quite voluminous literature on bowel issues and autism by suggesting that "Parents report more GI symptoms in children with ASD than children with either SEN or TD children".A translation if it is needed: according to mums and dads, kids diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have more toilet-related issues than those without autism or those with a physical / learning disability (SEN) […]

Chandler S, Carcani-Rathwell I, Charman T, Pickles A, Loucas T, Meldrum D, Simonoff E, Sullivan P & Baird G (2013). Parent-Reported Gastro-intestinal Symptoms in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders., Journal of autism and developmental disorders, PMID:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation

February 06, 2013

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5:07 AM | #scio13 Wrapup: On Identity
Kate Clancy and I were lucky enough to be able to lead a session on Identity at this year’s Science Online. What are your various identities? How do they impact your writing? Do you think you could use different identities to reach and identify with different audiences. The storify is below, and below THAT we [...]
The Scicurious Brain
Neuroscience | Psychiatry

February 05, 2013

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10:44 PM | Changing Brightness in an Image: Continuing with a Visual Illusion Experiment – Part 4
In this video, i’ve adapted the previous video by altering brightness to see what effect this has (if any) on the illusions. The video is best viewed full screen. My findings which the reader can check are that 1. If the image is very bright or very dark one of the effects is lost – [...]
The Amazing World of Psychiatry
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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4:20 PM | I Predict A Riot
Almost a year ago I posted a blog post titled 'A Yale Professor’s One Man Rampage Against PloS, the Internet and a Belgian Research Group', covering the case of a respected researcher who became very upset about a study replicating his work and finding a negative outcome. This may have only been a ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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3:54 PM | Insulin-like growth factor and autism
I admit to being a tiny bit sceptical/skeptical whenever I read a press release about hypothesis-only papers. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people airing their ideas and opinions in the peer-reviewed domain, in fact in any domain including the blogosphere, as long as they are backed up by some kind of evidence (which need not just be of the double-blind, placebo-controlled variety). But I still feel a little bit cheated when there are no new findings or data included in a paper which is […]

Steinman, G. & Mankuta, D. (2013). Insulin-like growth factor and the etiology of autism, Medical Hypotheses, DOI:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation
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4:56 AM | Is Anorexia Nervosa An Anxiety Disorder?
Anxiety disorders (ADs) are common among patients with eating disorders. In one study of female inpatients, around 50-65% had a comorbid anxiety disorder (see my post here). Anxiety disorders in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) typically begin before the eating disorder and often persist after weight restoration and recovery (Bulik et al., 1997; Casper, 1990). Moreover, previous twin studies have suggested that there’s a “correlation between eating disorders and certain anxiety […]

Strober, M., Freeman, R., Lampert, C. & Diamond, J. (2007). The association of anxiety disorders and obsessive compulsive personality disorder with anorexia nervosa: Evidence from a family study with discussion of nosological and neurodevelopmental implications, International Journal of Eating Disorders, 40 (S3) DOI:

Science of Eating Disorders
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
Citation

February 04, 2013

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11:06 PM | A Brief Overview of The Cannon-Bard Thalamic Theory of Emotions: Building a Model of the Insular Cortex – Part 8
In Part 7 of the series, I looked briefly at the James-Lange Theory of Emotional Regulation which states that emotions occur secondary to the physiological response to a stimulus. A contrasting theory of emotions is the Cannon-Bard theory which states that our emotional and physiological responses to a stimulus occur simultaneously. One specific variation of [...]
The Amazing World of Psychiatry
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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10:08 PM | You’re Getting Conscious -- Even If You Didn’t Know It
Did you see Life of Pi or Cloud Atlas?  How about Prometheus or Avatar? Have you picked up a bestseller by Deepak Chopra or Eckhart Tolle? Do you ever leaf through an inspirational book before leaving the yoga studio or do meditation videos at home? Have you watched My Neighbor Totoro or The Last ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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3:30 PM | Examining UK Gun Crime 15 Years After Firearms Act
What's the Latest Development? Last week marked 15 years since the enactment of the UK's Firearms Act, which prevents private citizens from owning most types of handguns and makes it much harder to purchase other types of guns, such as rifles and shotguns. The British parliament passed the law ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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6:27 AM | The brain and thinking fast and slow
Buffer Explanatory video about system 1 and 2 thinking, also known as fast and slow thinking, as in the book Buffer   No related posts.
Dr Shock MD PhD
Academic Life | Psychiatry
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5:23 AM | Scio13 WrapUp: Blogging for the Long Haul
At Scienceonline 2013, Dr. Zen and I spent some time discussing how to blog “for the long haul”. There’s a full storify of what went down below, and there should be live video feed available for free soon! And below the storify, I’ve included a few thoughts that I personally took away from the session. [...]
The Scicurious Brain
Neuroscience | Psychiatry

February 03, 2013

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10:34 PM | Antiepileptic exposure and offspring autism risk
The great autism research spotlight continues to focus its gazerbeam on the very earliest days of being for any clues governing why some children might go on to develop autism. I've kinda lost count of how many times I've talked about maternal exposure for this or that having been linked to an elevated risk of offspring autism; ranging from maternal inflammation to parental occupational exposure to the possibility that maternal medication history during pregnancy might singularly or […]

Bromley, R., Mawer, G., Briggs, M., Cheyne, C., Clayton-Smith, J., Garcia-Finana, M., Kneen, R., Lucas, S., Shallcross, R., Baker, G. & , . (2013). The prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders in children prenatally exposed to antiepileptic drugs, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DOI:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation
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4:11 AM | Over-Exercise is Associated With Suicidality in Individuals with Disordered Eating
Last week, I blogged about a study that examined personality traits and clinical variables associated with excessive exercise in eating disorder patients. In that study, 2 out of 5 participants engaged in excessive exercise. Today, I’m going to discuss a study that suggests over-exercise in disordered eating patients is associated with suicide behaviour. Suicide rates in eating disorder patients are high. One meta-analysis suggested that out of all eating disorder related deaths, 1 in 5 […]

Smith, A., Fink, E., Anestis, M., Ribeiro, J., Gordon, K., Davis, H., Keel, P., Bardone-Cone, A., Peterson, C., Klein, M. & Crow, S. (2012). Exercise caution: Over-exercise is associated with suicidality among individuals with disordered eating, Psychiatry Research, DOI:

Science of Eating Disorders
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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Citation
Editor's Pick

February 02, 2013

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11:31 AM | Imagery rehearsal therapy for post-trauma nightmares
Melynda Casement and Leslie Swanson have recently published an interesting meta-analysis on imagery rehearsal therapy. Find the summary below, with thanks to Georgina Johnstone*.   Sleep problems are a central component of posttraumatic stress, both in children and adults. Difficulty … Continue reading →

Casement MD & Swanson LM (2012). A meta-analysis of imagery rehearsal for post-trauma nightmares: effects on nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and posttraumatic stress., Clinical psychology review, 32 566-74. PMID:

Trauma Recovery
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation

February 01, 2013

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5:15 PM | Using Only These Words, Explain This Hard Idea
What's the Latest Development? Inspired by a comic strip describing the parts of a NASA Saturn V rocket, geneticist Theo Sanderson has created the Up-Goer 5 Text Editor, which asks users to "explain a hard idea using only the ten hundred most used words" in the English language. Inspired by the ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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2:59 PM | Friday Weird Science: Sperm trading
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hermaphroditic flatworm in possession of its own sperm, rarely runs short of sperm, and thus must be in want of another hermaphrodite of suitable quality to inseminate.” -Jane Austen, if she had studied flatworms Sci is at Neurotic Physiology today, talking about how flatworms trade sperm. It [...]
The Scicurious Brain
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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1:59 PM | Will the 3D Printing Revolution Produce the Next Apple?
Now that Apple appears to be losing its innovation mojo, it's time to ask: Is there any company that can ever become the “next Apple”? In order to become the “next Apple,” the company would have to be the undisputed market leader in the technology sector with an unchallenged reputation for ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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11:24 AM | Acyl-carnitine profiles and autism
No doubt alongside quite a few others, I was interested to read the latest paper from Richard Frye and colleagues* (open-access) discussing the potential links between an animal model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and real-world ASD in a particular cohort of participants.This is not the first time that I've talked about (a) the work of Dr Frye - as per my [don't panic] post on folate receptor autoantibodies in cases of autism (see here) and (b) some of the difficulties attached to […]

Frye RE, Melnyk S & Macfabe DF (2013). Unique acyl-carnitine profiles are potential biomarkers for acquired mitochondrial disease in autism spectrum disorder., Translational psychiatry, 3 PMID:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation
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4:10 AM | How Not to Handle an Art Controversy
Earlier this month, the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, removed a small oak tree from its sculpture garden—a story of little to no note, right? But just as the mighty oak grows from a tiny acorn, from that oak sapling springs a tale of art controversy of massive consequences. The tree, the ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology

January 31, 2013

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11:04 PM | Peak Empathy News Roundup January 5th Edition 2013
A Cochrane Systematic Review concluded that although promising there was insufficient evidence to recommend Cerebrolysin for the treatment of Vascular Dementia at this point. Neuroscience Empathy A new international multicentre study has provided evidence that empathy – the ability to understand the minds of others – could begin to develop before 2 years of age. [...]
The Amazing World of Psychiatry
Neuroscience | Psychiatry

January 30, 2013

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12:14 PM | Autism and the criminal justice system
I assume most people with a connection to autism, either personal or professional, will have heard about the case of Gary McKinnon and his long-running battle against extradition from the UK to the United States to face charges of alleged hacking into various US Government systems.Order @ Wikipedia The politics have, over the 10-year period of this saga, tended to focus more on the extradition arrangements between the UK and US over and above the actual person, his Asperger syndrome […]

Cheely CA, Carpenter LA, Letourneau EJ, Nicholas JS, Charles J & King LB (2012). The prevalence of youth with autism spectrum disorders in the criminal justice system., Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 42 (9) 1856-62. PMID:

Questioning Answers
Psychiatry | Psychology
Citation
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6:45 AM | What Really Goes On Inside Pro-Ana Communities? (Maybe They Are Not So Bad After All)
Ambivalence is a great word to describe how many eating disorder patients feel about recovery. Many people that follow my Science of Eating Disorders tumblr run thinspo blogs. But, they follow me, and many probably follow fyoured, which offers pro-recovery advice. Many people might want to recover someday, but they feel they can’t let go of the behaviours now. They are not denying their illness, or that recovery will happen, or that it really IS a disorder, but, right now, […]
Science of Eating Disorders
Neuroscience | Psychiatry
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5:54 AM | Scicurious Guest Writer! Sleight of Hand, Sleight of Mind: Illusions, Delusions and the Immune System
Please welcome this month’s Scicurious Guest Writer, Phil Corlett!! We often make a distinction between brains and brawn, between the mind and the body. But this mind/body dualism doesn’t actually exist. Instead, our bodies shape how our brains work, and vice versa. And the immune system could be an intersection between body and brain. The [...]
The Scicurious Brain
Neuroscience | Psychiatry

January 29, 2013

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10:23 PM | What Ancient Teachings Can't Teach: Creationism to the Yoga Sutras
I’ve noticed a pattern when speaking to friends about creationism: I say the word, and in response receive a squinted eye and disgruntled head shake, followed by, ‘But no one takes that seriously.’ If only that were the case. I suppose it’s geographical, not to mention tribal. I’ve lived in Los ...Read More
Neurobonkers | Big Think
Psychiatry | Psychology
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