NeuroFile

News, topics and discussion of everything neuropsychology and neuroscience - in plain text. Kate Finley, PhD, Clinical Neuropsychologist

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Winner of the 2014 Abstract Brain Art Contest

The Isle of Cortica: Brain Art Map, by Richard Roche, UK

I actually don’t get it, but I like the soma + dendrite shaped compass.

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Germinal matrix hemorrhage (GMH) in premature newborns.

The germinal matrix is a thick cellular layer of immature cells (neuronal and glial precursors) under the ependymal lining of the ventricles. It  give rise to the neurons of the cerebral cortex during embryologic development. 

The germinal matrix is exceptionally vascular with a network of thin fragile capillaries highly susceptible to injury by hypoxia. In early gestation, the germinal matrix lines the wall of the entire ventricular system, lying just beneath the ependyma, the thin membranous lining of the ventricular system.  After 12 weeks gestation, the germinal matrix begins to regress.  By 24 weeks, only the germinal matrix over the caudate nucleus persists.  By full term at 40 weeks, the germinal matrix no longer exists.  Thus hemorrhage of the germinal matrix is a disease of premature infants. It originates in the residual germinal matrix that overlies the caudate nucleus in the frontal horns of the lateral ventricles.  The normal germinal matrix is not visualized by US.

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The hemorrhage starts usually between the thalamus and the caudate nucleus, adjacent to the foramina of Monro, and is frequently bilateral.  If it is large, it ruptures into the ventricles, flooding the lateral, third, and fourth ventricles (intraventricular hemorrhage - IVH). Blood then exits through the foramina of Luschka, causing subarachnoid hemorrhage. Thick clots along the ventral aspect of the brain stem may block the foramina of Luschka.

grade I : confined to the germinal matrix grade II : intraventricular hemorrhage without ventricular dilatatation grade III : intraventricular hemorrhage with ventricular dilatation gade IV : GMH with intraventricular rupture and hemorrhage into the surrounding white matter

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The Brain, in Exquisite Detail

Undertaking thousands of hours of work, researchers are working to create an interactive database of a healthy brain’s structure and activity, the first of its kind.

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Pulling an all-nighter could damage brain

Pulling an all-nighter can make you feel completely drained, cranky, and out of sorts the next day, but can it also actually injure the brain? A new Swedish study published last Tuesday in the journal Sleep indicates that it might.

In the small study conducted in 15 healthy young men, the researchers measured blood levels of certain proteins associated with brain injuries like concussions after the men slept eight hours in a sleep lab and then were kept awake all night playing board games and watching movies. The researchers found that the blood protein levels were 20 percent higher after the men pulled an all-nighter compared to when they had a full night’s rest.

“The levels found after acute brain damage, such as after concussions, are distinctly higher than those found in our study,” said study leader Christian Benedict, an associate professor of neuroscience at Uppsala University in Sweden. “That said, it would not be appropriate to claim that a single night of sleep loss is equally harmful for your brain as a head injury.”

But it does indicate that skimping on sleep can do real damage to the brain, at least in the short-term.

Whether a build-up of toxins causes long-term damage to the brain over time remains unknown, but Benedict speculated that skipping a night of sleep on a regular basis could lead to chronic memory loss if certain regions of the brain are damaged.

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Head injuries in one football season cause measurable brain damage

For college athletes who get through their sport's season concussion-free, new research suggests it may be too early to breathe a sigh of relief.

Note the injury to white matter appears to be reversible.

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Brains (by BasementBanshees)

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APRAXIA

"Apraxia is classically defined as difficulty performing learned, skilled gestures." (Gross & Grossman, 2008)

Sometimes, when you're reading Oliver Sacks books, neurological evaluation seems so simple.  A woman comes in with the symptom of right-sided visual neglect and agnosia.  Things are never this simple.

The most commonly reported symptom in my clinic is "memory problems."  But what is perceived by the family (and sometimes the patient) as a memory problem is very often a deficit in attention.  

Likewise, some families perceive that their loved ones are deficient in problem-solving and reasoning.  On occasion, what they are actually demonstrating is a specific impairment in sequencing and performing multi-step tasks, using objects, and completing meaningful tasks with their hands.  This is called apraxia.  It is a result of dysfunction in the basal ganglia, surrounding white matter tracts, and frontoparietal cortex.  Ideomotor apraxia is a prominent feature in Parkinson's-plus syndromes such as corticobasal degeneration.  

I recently stumbled upon a wonderful summary of relatively recent research on apraxia, with a focus on corticobasal degeneration:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2696397/

Citation: Gross, R. & Grossman, M. (2008).  Update on apraxia.  Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 8(6): 490-496.

Apraxia is also a "pagan war metal" band from Belarus

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Neil Hilborn - "OCD" (Rustbelt 2013) (by Button Poetry)

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Hi Thank you for your reply. :)

All the best.

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Well this could get interesting.

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Ian Tilmann Foundation - Helmets for skaters in need.

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been working on this combo for awhile now halfcab blunt to noseblunt revert

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Not everyone is born with artistic talents. Sometimes, abilities mysteriously appear after brain trauma such as a stroke, injury, tumor or surgery.

Earlier I posted an article about a woman with frontotemporal dementia who began creating endlessly methodological, mathematical paintings.  Here are some other examples of artistic talents emerging after brain injury.  

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I am a current soon to be sophomore in college and Psych Major with a Biology Minor. I am interested in Clinical Neuropsychology, Child Psychology, and Educational Psychology. In terms of these three fields of study which do you most recommend, or believe is currently in demand or will be in the future?

It depends on your passion.  If you are into investigating, exploring and evaluating, a career in clinical neuropsychology or school psychology would be a great fit.  If you are into neuroscience, then I would lean towards neuropsychology.  If you want to focus on treatment and therapy, then counseling or child psychology may be right for you.  If you want to do research, all of the above.  If you'd like to research how to make education and schools better, than a focus on educational psychology would work.  

Mostly I'd recommend taking classes and seeing what you like.  You are a ways off from having to decide.  When I was a sophomore in college, I was majoring in geography.  I ended up going straight out of college with a B.A. in psychology into a neuropsychology Ph.D. program.  All the best in your search!

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“The research shows that same-sex couples are similar to heterosexual couples in essential ways and that they are as likely as opposite-sex couples to raise mentally healthy, well-adjusted children,” said APA President Donald N. Bersoff, PhD, JD.