A man from the 19th Century who survived a horrific brain injury, and became a notorious case study for neuroscience because of the personality change he underwent, has been the subject of yet more research. The University of California at Los Angeles last week boasted that for the first time its researchers used “brain-imaging data ...
Talk about mind over matter. In a study published last week, a paralyzed woman and paralyzed man were both able to move and control a robotic arm with their thoughts, their brain signals. Brown University issued a press release on the fascinating research, which employed brain implants, on Wednesday. http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2012/05/braingate2 “On April 12, 2011, nearly ...
Processed sugar can not only make you fat, it can wreak havoc on your brain, interfering with memory and learning, according to a study done at the University of California at Los Angeles. In a press release last week, UCLA said that a new “rat study” is the first research to demonstrate that “a diet ...
It’s a cliche, but it’s true: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the signature wound of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And it has been called an invisible injury, since you can’t see it and it typically doesn’t turn up in brain scans. But a fascinating study has found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), ...
A new study has found that younger athletes, and girls in particular, take longer to recover from concussions than older males. Those were the findings of research published in the most recent issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine, with the lead author being Tracey Covassin, an associate professor of kinesiology at Michigan State ...
The National Hockey League is continuing to play tough with players who are making illegal blows to the head. Earlier this week, in the middle of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the NHL suspended Philadelphia Flyers Claude Giroux for one game, according to The New York Times. http://slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/n-h-l-suspends-flyers-giroux-for-one-game/ His offense was making an ilegal blow to ...
Here’s one of the smartest decisions I’ve seen anyone make in a long time: Cincinnati Bengals Jacob Bell is retiring from football, citing last week’s suicide by Junior Seau. Bell, who has played eight seasons in the NFL, has told numerous media outlets that he doesn’t want to risk sustaining concussions that could lead to ...
Frontotemporal dementia almost makes Alzheimer’s disease look like a picnic. The New York Times Sunday did a Page One story on this particular form of dementia, which it described as a “little-known, poorly understood and frequently misdiagnosed group of brain diseases that eat away at personality and language.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/health/a-rare-form-of-dementia-tests-a-vow-of-for-better-for-worse.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all “Frontotemporal dementia, also called frontotemporal degeneration ...
Last week The New York Times wrote a profile of ex-NFL player Ray Easterling’s widow, who describes the tortured two decades he lived as he suffered from dementia and memory loss. Two weeks ago, he committed suicide. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/sports/ray-easterlings-widow-to-keep-fighting-for-retired-nfl-players-with-head-injuries.html?_r=1&src=rechp Easterling was a plaintiff in one of several suits that former players have filed against the NFL, ...
A day after Junior Seau’s suicide, more than 100 former NFL players — including ex-Green Bay Packers quarterback Don Majkowski — filed suit in Atlanta against the league, the latest in a string of lawsuits over the issue of concussions and safety. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500290_162-57427518/nfl-faces-new-concussion-lawsuit-by-more-than-100-ex-players/ The latest lawsuit was filed Thursday in Federal Court in Atlanta, according ...