Counseling From A to ZMore Discoveries?!!! Sep 3, 2010, Help in Addiction Treatment for Women-Biochemical pathway may link addiction, compulsive eatingAddiction Treatment for Women-While this research may not be of much comfort to the still suffering alcoholic, it is very exciting to me, because it says that there is a rhyme and reason to both addiction and recovery. Some or most of the hopelessness that the still suffering experience comes from the thought that addiction is inexplicable, too big, and cannot be beaten. This kind of information offers hope for understanding and with understanding effortful recovery can happen. Awareness leads to choices if you will.
"ScienceDaily (2010-09-02) -- Ezlopitant, a compound known to suppress craving for alcohol in humans, was shown to decrease consumption of sweetened water by rodents in a new study."...Ezlopitant is an NK1 binder antagonist, a class of drugs that blocks the action of substance P, a neurotransmitter that is believed to play a role in the reward system. The reward system is a complex of brain structures that, among other things, governs craving for, and addiction to, alcohol and drugs. "Substance P is released in your brain in response to certain stimuli, and needs to bind with receptors on neurons in order to have an effect," Bartlett explains. "The NK1 receptor is where it binds, and ezlopitant prevents that binding." Sep 2, 2010, More Brain Fitness Research!I have been adding new brain fitness posts to my site for over a month now, each one of them involving new research about what we have come to call brain fitness. It would appear that research about neurogenesis and what it means for older adults is just exploding. Please do not wait for a magic potion or magic wand. We need to take care of our own neurogenesis, which means attend to the pillars of brain fitness every day. Those pillars are physical exercise, nutrition including omega 3 fatty acid and antioxidants, good sleep, stress management, and novel learning experiences. Read more by clicking the link below.
ScienceDaily (2009-12-01) -- Scientists have made a significant advance in understanding regeneration processes in the brain. The researchers discovered progenitor cells which can form new glutamatergic neurons following injury to the cerebral cortex. Permalink -- click for full blog post "More Brain Fitness Research!" Sep 1, 2010, Forming new brain cells: Key regulatory peptide discoveredI wonder what the link between brain training exercises and the creation of peptide C3a is? But the good news is that we are discovering more and more of what the brain can do in regards to neurogenesis, or growth of new brain cells. That is a relief for this Boomer Brain. Now to go do the physical exercise, and get to work. Mike ScienceDaily (2009-11-29) -- The generation of new nerve cells in the brain is regulated by a peptide known as C3a, which directly affects the stem cells' maturation into nerve cells and is also important for the migration of new nerve cells through the brain tissue. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Forming new brain cells: Key regulatory peptide discovered" Aug 31, 2010, Use it or Lose It Research says Train Your BrainBrain training exercises are important, it turns out. If you have been following the brain fitness research at all, you have read of the 'pillars of brain fitness', one of which is novel learning experiences. That novel learning experience is usually characterized as giving your brain a challenge which requires regular effort and increasing levels of challenge, like learning a new language or a new musical instrument. The research below tells you why engaging in novel learning experiences is important. ScienceDaily (2008-02-12) -- Scientists have found another important clue to why nerve cells die in neurodegenerative diseases, based on studies of the developing brain. "It appears that if a cell is not appropriately stimulated by other cells, it self-destructs" said one of the researchers." Permalink -- click for full blog post "Use it or Lose It Research says Train Your Brain" Aug 30, 2010, Why Relationship Tips? Our best and worst moments occur within social relationships, research shows.I am sure you have been in some relationships where you could have used some tips, because it did not end up the way you would have preferred, and then you learned experientially what this research says is true. There is emotion. ScienceDaily (2010-08-27) -- In the first study of its kind, researchers have found compelling evidence that our best and worst experiences in life are likely to involve not individual accomplishments, but interaction with other people and the fulfillment of an urge for social connection. Aug 29, 2010, Researchers urge reclassification of traumatic brain injury as chronic disease!Is adult neurogenesis the answer? Growing replacement parts in your brain?I think this is very important information for your counseling practice. I frequently check with my clients about head injuries, especially in the Anger Management program. There are very few men out there who have not had a blow to the head in sports or on the playground. ScienceDaily (2010-08-27) -- Traumatic brain injury, currently considered a singular event by the insurance industry and many health care providers, is instead the beginning of an ongoing process that impacts multiple organ systems and may cause or accelerate other diseases and disorders that can reduce life expectancy, according to new research. Aug 28, 2010, The Best Memory Strategy? Physical Exercise?ScienceDaily (2008-09-05) -- An Australian study has found that walking for two and a half hours a week can significantly improve memory problems in the over-50s. But as all married people know, selective memory and hearing are still ok. Permalink -- click for full blog post "The Best Memory Strategy? Physical Exercise?" Aug 27, 2010, Attention, couch potatoes! Walking boosts brain connectivity, functionImproving your brain by walking regularly? No need to embarrass myself at the gym? Or buy spandex? So cool. ScienceDaily (2010-08-26) -- A group of "professional couch potatoes," as one researcher described them, has proven that even moderate exercise -- in this case walking at one's own pace for 40 minutes three times a week -- can enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits, combat declines in brain function associated with aging and increase performance on cognitive tasks. Aug 26, 2010, New Anxiety Attacks InformationNew Anxiety Attacks Information- Gotta love fMRI or functional magenetic resonance imagery. We are learning what brain circuitry is active when we are feeling anxious and perhaps even how to create an active coping response rather than a passive coping response. "ScienceDaily (2007-06-04) -- Researchers have now uncovered the neural basis for such anxiety behaviour in mice. They report that a receptor for the messenger serotonin and a neural circuit involving a brain region called the hippocampus play crucial roles in mediating fear responses in ambiguous situations." Permalink -- click for full blog post "New Anxiety Attacks Information" Aug 25, 2010, Zen Training Speeds The Mind's Return After Distraction, Brain Scans RevealBiofeedback relaxation is about the regular switch from alpha to beta brainwaves and back, or heart rate variability coherence to incoherence and back. If Barry Sterman,Ph.D. is seeing this, he might be doing a fist pump or two, as his research with EEG biofeedback with Navy pilots way back in the dark ages of the early '90's said something similar, that the pilots who were able to switch attentional styles, take short alpha brain wave breaks between tasks, were more successful than pilots who stayed locked into one attentional style. This research says that with practice, changes in distraction can be minimized. But you say you are not a Zen meditator, nor are you going to undertake a regimen of EEG Biofeedback training. Then go to the link below and checkout Heartmath. ScienceDaily (2008-09-03) -- After being interrupted by a word-recognition task, experienced meditators' brains returned faster to their pre-interruption condition. Researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine changes in blood flow in the brain when people meditating were interrupted by stimuli designed to mimic the appearance of spontaneous thoughts." Aug 24, 2010, Your Aging Brain and Blueberries, Strawberries, and Acai BerriesMy aging brain soothed by blueberries? I am on it. I love blueberries and strawberries in a smoothie. I mix up some frozen yogurt, a banana, blueberries, and strawberries, with some milk, soy milk, maybe some protein powder added in, and I have a very tasty concoction that has a wonderful side effect of leaving me feeling comfortably full for several hours. No desire for artificial food. ScienceDaily (2010-08-24) -- Scientists report the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study concludes that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline. Aug 23, 2010, Can Meditation Help The Elderly With Their IssuesI want to suggest that Boomers and the elderly can make a difference in their ability to find solutions for elderly issues by taking care of brain fitness. The brain fitness writers are saying that we can continue to grow new neurons well into our 70's, if we take care of those pillars, which are physical exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress management, which is where meditation practices fit, and novel learning experiences, and learning a Buddhist meditative technique would be novel for most of us. Why would I want to undertake this kind of regimen as a Boomer or elder? I want to suggest that when it comes to brains, bigger (or thicker) is better at any age.
ScienceDaily (2005-11-11) -- Meditation is known to alter resting brain patterns, suggesting long lasting brain changes, but a new study by researchers from Yale, Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows meditation also is associated with increased cortical thickness. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Can Meditation Help The Elderly With Their Issues" Aug 22, 2010, Mindfulness for Beginners-Brief meditative exercise helps cognitionThis article says that mindfulness for beginners is better than coffee! "ScienceDaily (2010-04-19) -- Psychologists studying the effects of a meditation technique known as "mindfulness " found that meditation-trained participants showed a significant improvement in their critical cognitive skills -- and performed significantly better in cognitive tests than a control group -- after only four days of training for only 20 minutes each day. The results resembled previously studied cognitive improvements connected to far more extensive training in meditation." The article goes on to say this about the dual n back task and the impact of the breathing technique on the performance of the participants,"Particularly of note were the differing results on a "computer adaptive n-back task," where participants would have to correctly remember if a stimulus had been shown two steps earlier in a sequence. If the participant got the answer right, the computer would react by increasing the speed of the subsequent stimulus, further increasing the difficulty of the task. The meditation-trained group averaged aproximately10 consecutive correct answers, while the listening group averaged approximately one." This is what the Heartmath folks have been saying all along, that relaxation skills open the higher perceptual centers of the brain. Happy breathing, y'all. Aug 21, 2010, Meditate to ConcentrateHow can concentration exercises benefit someone in counseling? How can meditation help in life? Not sure about you, but I picked up somewhere that concentration meant that I was locked into and holding on for dear life to some thought or topic or chore, and that is not how we humans pay attention. Learning any meditative or mindfulness technique will help me recognize that my attention is moving around all the time, and that if I guide it, rather than force it, I will have a lot more fun. ScienceDaily (2007-06-26) -- Researchers say that practicing even small doses of daily meditation may improve focus and performance. Even for those new to the practice, meditation enhanced performance and the ability to focus attention. Performance-based measures of cognitive function demonstrated improvements in a matter of weeks. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Meditate to Concentrate" Aug 20, 2010, Compassion Meditation May Improve Physical And Emotional Responses To Psychological StressAn attitude of gratitude can work wonders for a fevered brain, and now the researchers are beginning to chime in from a number of directions. If you are familiar with Sharon Begley, Science writer from Newsweek, who wrote Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain, then you will feel gratitude right now about the research mentioned below, which sounds to me like it confirms what Begley was writing about and the Buddhist's were creating.ScienceDaily (2008-10-07) -- Data from a new study suggests that individuals who engage in compassion meditation may benefit by reductions in inflammatory and behavioral responses to stress that have been linked to depression and a number of medical illnesses.
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