Brain Evaluation

Inflammation Affects the Brain

Inflammation is part of the aging process, contributing to white matter damage as well as amyloid accumulation and a cascade of biochemical changes.  Vascular risk factors increased these age related alterations of the cerebral white matter which occurs more often in the frontal lobes, especially in individuals diagnosed with hypertension.   Research with animals on calorie restriction diets showed a 20 to 40 percent decrease of inflammatory stress on the brain over time.  MRI’s of the Super Agers, (including 10 octogenarians) found none of the cortical thinning that is a byproduct of aging.  Neurology Today 12-1-2011.

 

High and Low Blood Pressure can be Associated with Stroke

Blood pressure levels below 120 or 140 and above were found to be associated with increased risk of recurrent stroke.   Seventy seven percent of Americans treated for a first stroke had blood readings of 140 over 90.  Elevated blood pressure is the most important modifiable risk for stroke carrying a lowered risk of stroke as blood pressure decreases.  The hypothesis suggested here is that at either extreme of blood pressure individuals are at increased risk of recurrent stroke.  Neurology Today 12-1-2011.

 

The Real Culprit of Heading

Recent research suggests that the problem of heading is actually the number of sustained concussions.  In a study of 38 amateur soccer players, those who headed the ball more than 1,320 times per year (which works out to just a few times per day) had more problems.  Microscopic white matter injuries consistent with a traumatic brain injury were detected using diffusion tensor imaging.  The advice of experts is to minimize heading especially for children whose brains are more vulnerable.  The warning is for practice drills when players head the ball back and forth thirty or forty or more times without a break.   Neurology Today 1-5-2012.

 

High Fat Diet and Leaky Blood Brain Barrier

New research suggests that the brain can become leaky at the level of the hippocampus. This means that peripheral cytokines or chemokines or inflammatory processes have the opportunity to infiltrate the hippocampus and impair signaling which ultimately can affect memory, cognition and emotions.  Environmental toxins would also have the opportunity to impair normal function of the hippocampal brain region.  However the plot thickens and now we learn that there are receptors in the hippocampus that influence appetite regulation that can be affected by impaired signaling.  So it goes like this.  High fat diets can result in a leaky more porous hippocampal area that is at risk to become infiltrated by various toxins which ultimately can create obesity as a result of poor appetite regulation and lack of satiation. Neurology Today 1-5-2012. 

 

Cat Naps can be Restorative

A recent experiment detailed in Neurology Today 1-19-12 reported on a short nap that resulted in stage 2 sleep suggesting benefit of the cat naps.  While not substituting for short sleep it is well known that the 20 minute nap can be a re-vitalizing addition to the day.

 

A Drug found to Temporarily Improve Social Behaviors in Frontotemporal Dementia

Oxytocin has been tried successfully with autism and recently was trialed with patients diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia, FTD.  Social behavior is a common consequence of FTD, individuals can become emotionally blunted and withdrawn.  Evidence in the use with autism is that it enhances “relatedness”.  The hormone is thought to enhance positive cues from the environment and to reduce negative ones leading to decreased sensitivity to feeling threatened by the environment.   Time and further research will provide confirmation of whether this drug could be of benefit to those diagnosed with FTD. Neurology Today 1-19-12.

Positive Effects of Nicotine for Neurodegenerative Disorders

Researchers are looking at the positive effect of nicotine on dyskinesias and impulsivity in Parkinson disease, cognitive deficits in ADHD and attention and memory for mild cognitive impairment.  Neurology Today (1-19-12) reports on a recent study published in Neurology involving 67 subjects who participated in a randomized study using the nicotine patch.  The results indicate significant improvement in attention, memory and psychomotor speed.  Nicotinic receptors are seen as regulating other receptor systems like a gain amplifier. 

 

Use of an Animal Model to Identify a Human Form of Occupational Neuropathy

In 2007 Indiana and Minnesota pork plant workers came down with unidentified in neuropathic symptoms consisting of pain, prickling and numbness, weakness, headache and difficulty walking.  It turns out that they had been exposed to pork brains working in the brain removal section of the pork plant and using pressurized air to force the brain tissue out.  This result study replicating the situation with animals demonstrated that the neuropathy symptoms were the result of particles of pig brain tissue that lingered in the air.  The company changed their procedures and stopped exposing people to the brain tissue.  Meanwhile scientists demonstrated that voltage gated potassium channels were a significant target of the antibodies and that the worker’s illness was the result of an autoimmune response initiated by nervous system antigens in healthy brain tissue.  Neurology Today 1-19-2012.

Mood Disorders are the Result of Genetic and Biochemical Processes

Brains of Individuals diagnosed with depression versus bipolar disorder were analyzed and found to have changes in different areas of the brain.  In depression, the biggest changes were in the hippocampus while with bipolar disorder the biggest changes were seen in the nucleus accumbens suggesting a signature for each disease.   In comparing these brains, researchers were able to detect hundreds of genes expressed differently in the amygdala of depressed people who had committed suicide but were not treated for their depression.  In suicide patients who were treated gene expression was not different from the control brains.  This suggests an impact of treatment for the amygdala but not for the hippocampal area which still showed residual changes not touched by the drug.  These individuals who were treated went on to commit suicide suggesting that they may have been treatment resistant.  Other genetic studies are finding a significant genetic basis for metabolic activity in the hippocampus predictive of anxious temperament.   Neurology Today, 1-19-2012

 

Have we really solved the problem of sports concussion?

While the professional athletic leagues and amateur leagues are working hard to adopt rules for concussions forcing players to stay on the sidelines until cleared to play, we are forgetting the emotional drive of the game.  Players are used to concussions and taking hits on their head.  They use their head to injure other players. They do not want to be benched and as a result are trying to hide any evidence of concussion.  Too many concussions mean they are benched indefinitely.  Take the story of Derek Boogaard who is reported to have had as many as 174 regular season fights and knocked unconscious for at least 20 times.  He stopped playing after his last concussion in December of 2010, could not beat alcohol and drug problems and was dead before the year was up in November of 2011.   Professionals put on the injured roster had problems finding another team to pick them up once cleared for play.   New rules involve plays no longer allowed, baseline testing at the beginning of each season, annual concussion training and specific rules of returning to play.  While changes are needed and very necessary, these changes threaten the way players have learned to play the sport, affecting their finances and ultimately their career.  Neurology Today (1-19-2012) discusses the new concussion rules and need to emphasize player education so the players understand the impact of concussion upon their brain. Players have to care about their own health and longevity which unfortunately is not part of the game.