How being sick can change the way you think

            Dr. Sara Weisenbach’s article titled, The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder, can show us a great deal about the detrimental effects certain illnesses can have on our cognitive skills. Her experiment specifically focused on two factors: aging and bipolar disorder and their effect on a plethora of cognitive skills. The results from her experiment were profound. Similarly, a study published by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) showed the effects that obesity can have on cognitive skills. Many things can impact our cognitive skills with some things having a greater effect than others. It is important to understand how much of an impact things such as disease or disorders can have on our cognitive skills so that we can work towards preventing them.

            Dr. Weisenbach’s research discusses how aging can affect cognitive skills in people with bipolar disorder (BPD). BPD is a disorder associated with mood swings, from depression to mania. This study involved 80 individuals with BPD and 78 healthy individuals. There were four groups in total: Young HC, Old HC, Young BPD, and Old BPD. The researchers also tested cognitive skills such as memory, attention, psychomotor speed, emotional processing and executive functioning. The results of the experiment were profound with older BPD patients having the worst performance scores for cognitive tests. From these results we can conclude that aging plays a great role in the detrimental effects towards cognitive skills.

            Obesity can be considered a metabolic abnormality because it can be characterized by high blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, or triglycerides. The obesity study from the AAN involved 6,401 subject with an average age of about 50 years old. This was a ten year long study that involved healthy and obese individuals. They were studied over this period of time, specifically their performance on cognitive tests. These individuals were tested a total of three times throughout the length of the study. They were tested on their memory skills and their cognitive abilities. The results were prominent with obese individuals scoring 22.5 percent less than their healthier counterparts. Although Dr. Singh, the author of the study, believes these results can show us something important, he believes that more research should be done to eliminate the role of genetic factors.

            Both of these studies show a strong correlation between decreased cognitive abilities with disease. From this research we can learn to place a stronger emphasis on maintaining cognitive skills, even up until later years in life. It is important to maintain these skills because damages and changes to the brain are permanent for the most part. I believe more research should be done on how to improve cognitive abilities so that people with damages can recover. So far we have the knowledge of how to prevent this from occurring, so our next step should consider how to fix this situation. We can stress the importance of brain exercises, memory tests, certain diets, and restrictions. This research also has the potential to expand as well. We could potentially apply these results to systems other than the nervous system. How does disease or aging affect the immune system, or the cardiovascular system?

            There is a lot to learn from these studies. There is also a lot of potential for these studies to expand and deepen our knowledge in other areas of the body. We have to make the public aware of the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The brain is a sensitive organ, surrounded by a thick skull, any damages to it can be extremely life threatening. Therefore, one must be careful and make healthy choices whenever possible.

References

American Academy of Neurology (AAN). (2012, August 20). Obesity, metabolic factors linked to faster cognitive decline. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 1, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120820160851.htm

Weisenbach, S. L., Marshall, D., Weldon, A. L., Ryan, K. A., Vederman, A. C., Kamali, M., Zubieta, J., McInnis, M. G., & Langenecker, S. A. (2014). The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 29(1), 952-961. https://luc.app.box.com/s/4c031c26bsh2bj3619si/1/2926649189/24809638293/1

Finding One's Self In Bipolar Disorder

      Bipolar disorder strikes many people and leaves them craving for the life they once had. In the New York Times article, “The Problem with How We Treat Bipolar Disorder,” Linda Logan is an example of a woman whose life had hit roadblocks, where she could not recognize who she was. She explains her bipolar disorder as a gradual process that started sucking away all her happiness. She had three young kids but was unable to feel any happiness from the time she spent together with them. She was soon hospitalized for her suicidal thoughts and was treated with medications. She questions whether these methods were beneficial and why the “self” is not of more importance in psychic evaluations. Through her medical evaluations, no one had brought up the importance of finding one’s identity, even though Logan claimed that she saw many parts of her identity destroyed. This is slowly changing as psychiatrists are dealing with issues of finding one’s self and reviving the identity that has been scarred from mental disorders like bipolar disorder. Logan mentioned how her experience with bipolar disorder has led her to open a support group to talk about the self, either the self being destroyed or being revived, with other members suffering from similar disorder.
           

     In the study done by Sara Weisenbach and her team attempted to show worsening in brain function such as: executive function, emotional stability, psychomotor skills due to aging and bipolar disorder. The study conducted on 586 participants aimed to show how aging and bipolar disorder had a double negative effect on cognitive skills. The study aimed to evaluate the cognitive skills in multiple areas in order to assess whether people with bipolar disorder were getting even worse due to the effects of aging. The study concluded that older people were suffering from a lower quality of life and a decrease in their cognitive skills compared to younger individuals who were diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
           

    Amassing the study by Dr. Weisenbach, we can connect that as Logan was aging, she was feeling worse. She noted that the process of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder was gradual, accumulating as she got older. Combining the study and the experience from Logan, it is important to understand that treatment for mental disorders like bipolar disorder has to be done on an individual level. One medication will not work for everyone, thus, it is integral to find specific treatments that work for the individual. This will involve a combination of medication, and being able to revive one’s self. While it will be a difficult task to find treatments on an individual level, I find that finding one’s self will be an important method of treatment. Each individual will have an activity that will provide for the revitalization of the “self” such as Logan did through spending quality time with her kids, creative writing, and her support group. Further research will need to be conducted in order to specify the detrimental effects of aging on people with bipolar disorders and to develop specific treatments on an individual level.

 

Weisenbach, L. S., Marshall, D., Weldon, L. A., Ryan, K., Vederman, C. A., Kamali, M., Zubieta, J., McInnis, G. M., and Langenecker, A. S. (2014). The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29, 952-961.

Logan, L. (27 April, 2013). The Problem With How We Treat Bipolar Disorder. The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015, from <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/the-problem-with-how-we-treat-bipolar-disorder.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.

 

 

The Relationship between increasing age and bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is defined as a mental disorder characterized with alternating period of depression and elation. A research study conducted by Sara Weisenbach and colleagues examines the impact of increasing age on symptoms of bipolar disorder. Specifically the team showed a strong correlation between older bipolar diseased patients and poorer performance in cognitive abilities such as processing speed, language, visuomotor skills, working memory, verbal fluency, episodic memory, executive functioning, and psychomotor speed.

In comparison to same-age control groups, researchers found that patients with bipolar disorder, performed with less success on cognitive tasks. Patients older than 65 showed a higher rate of decline in ability for all cognitive abilities with the exception of complex attention. Bipolar disorder symptoms severely limit patients in regard to their cognitive abilities and their quality of life.

In the New York Time article, “Picking up a Memoir of Madness,” the author examines the story line of the novel titled “He Wanted the Moon.” The article talks about the decline of Dr. Perry Baird, the father of the novel’s author, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Dr. Baird was a respectable doctor from Boston who lost his quality of life because of his austere bipolar disorder.

Mimi Baird, the author of “He Wanted the Moon,” is said to have received a memoir from her diseased father many years following his death. The article talks about what the memoir revealed about Dr. Baird’s mental capabilities during his bipolar disease. Dr. Baird’s description revealed that he was a high-spirit child and an intelligent student of medicine. Initially at his young age, he did not experience severe cognitive limitations. However, at age 29 he was diagnosed with psychosis, a disorder where there is a mental disconnection from reality, and his quality of life diminished there forward. 

During his time with bipolar disorder, Dr. Baird had periods of mental stability and periods of violent delusions. His delusions became so destructive that he eventually lost his medical license and was removed from his family home. Following this Dr. Baird was sent to a hospital where he attempted to escape several times and succeed on more than one occasion. Dr. Baird was incapable of understanding why he was in the hospital and consequently thought of irrational reasons. As a result, he thought it was in his best interest to attempt escape.

The memoir left behind by Dr. Baird showed a disparity between an objective writer and an irrational counter writer. There were times of great clarity in this writing, but other times where the writing was heavily influenced with mania. Some of the writing was clear and concise reflecting stable times, and other times the writing was surged and irrational reflecting times of instability. This represents the alternating periods of depression and elation Dr. Baird experienced because of the bipolar diseases.

As the diseased worsen and Dr. Baird age increased, his mental capabilities became more severely limited. He saw irrational hidden message in everyday objects and he became incomprehensible. During the rare times where his mental capabilities returned, Dr. Baird acknowledged the mania he had endured.

Bipolar disorder seems to worsen as age increases, as shown through the research study and the memoir of Dr. Baird. Age-related brain changes are thought to show vulnerability to developing cognitive and functional problems. These are the most evidence areas for which mood disorders are associated. As a result bipolar disorder has more of an impact on those of older ages. Executive function and processing speeds are severely impacted in those with bipolar disorder and their quality of life is greatly diminished as compared to the control groups.

Weisenbach, S., Marshall, D., Weldon, A., Ryan, K., Vederman, A., Kamli, M., . . . Langenecker, S. (2014). The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29, 952-961.

Zuger, A. (2015, February 23). Picking Up a Memoir of Madness. The New York Times. Retrieved April 30, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/health/he-wanted-the-moon-is-an-extraordinary-effort-to-chronicle-bipolar-disease.html

Can teaching methods change the way children understand numerical representation?

According to John Opfer and Robert Siegler in their research on the “Development of Quantitative Thinking”, young children have a difficult time visualizing numbers on a number line, which changes over time. Nonsymbolic numbers, ones where the numerical properties are implicit, such as there being 4 or 10 of something, develops in infancy. However, the symbolic numbers, the word five or the heard number 8, don’t develop their exactness until later in childhood.

In Elizabeth Green’s article “Why Do Americans Stink At Math?” she discusses the possibilities with why children are not confident in their mathematical abilities, beginning at a very young age. She introduces a Japanese elementary school teacher who taught his classes according to American studies on more efficient teaching methods for math. Though, when he had the opportunity to come to America and observe grade school classes none of the teachers had switched from the classic teaching methods to the new efficient ways.

Could our classical American teaching methods be slowing down the rate of development in number representation? According to Green, students are not encouraged to learn methods to understanding basic arithmetic or the relationship between numbers, but they are merely taught to practice a system to add or subtract, without having that basic understanding that is necessary to build a mathematical foundation.

If Opfer and Siegler’s research was taken to Japan, where most students are taught the importance of understand the relationship between numbers and inventing and really thinking about the equations, would the outcome be different? If children are taught from an early age to visualize numbers so they can manipulate them easier to solve equations, then will the age at which symbolic numbers are recognized and correctly understood on a number line become lower?

Whether or not numerical representation changes because of a different teaching technique, it should be important for Americans to change the way that math is taught in schools to better prepare students for higher level thinking. Technique is important, but basic understanding of relationships between numbers is a much more essential tool for learning mathematics, and, who knows? Children might even begin to enjoy their math classes!

           

Opfer, J. E., Siegler, R. S., (2012). Development of Quantitative Thinking. The Oxford Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning, 585-605.

Green, E., (2014). Why do Americans Stink at Math?. The New York Times, MM22. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/why-do-americans-stink-at-math.html

Open Up: Do Not Let Depression Hide You Behind Media-Multitasking

             Why are you so quiet? I no longer see you! You were never like this! These statements are continuous ring in the ears of individuals suffering from depression. Depression that has been a hot topic in the past couple of decades can be a good news for teens. Have you ever had a friend that you used to spend majority of your time with and then suddenly you see them inattentive during your regular activities or hiding in their room? This sudden change in behavior and social withdrawal is usually the first sign that we observe in individuals going through depression. Recent article published in New York Times revealed the data collected by the Center of Disease Control in 2013 showing that 30 percent of teenagers that felt sad or hopeless for almost every day for 2 or more weeks in a row, out of which 17 percent considered attempting suicide. This rising diagnosis of depression in our youth has attracted the interest of many scientist to further look into the biological and psychological aspects of the disease.

Depression can be triggered by a variety factors that include: heredity, environmental factors, social relations or even crisis. Despite the trigger, one common sign/symptom that is evident in every patient is their lack of ability to focus on tasks, remembering details and making decisions. As a result Silton et el decided to explore the neuronal basis and pathways involved in attention and its malfunction in those who are depressed. In their research published in 2011, titled Depression and anxious apprehension distinguish frontocingulate cortical activity during top-down attentional control, the team looked into the neural pathway from the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (LDLPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) that has been identified in the top-down attentional control. In the study 100 participants were required to take the Stoop Interference task under the functional MRI and the brain potential of the two regions, LDFLPFC and dACC were measured using an Electroencephalogram. Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex is region in the brain that serves as a storage for short term working memory while the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in conflict detection. Silton et el discovered that in high level of depression there is very little relation between the LDFLPFC and dACC meaning that increased LDFLPFC lead to better performance on the Stroop Interference, however in low levels of depression both LDFLPFC and dACC indicated a direct relationship with Stroop Interference meaning worse performance. The early high activity in the LDFLPFC and later high activity indicates poor top down attentional performance indicating that depressed individuals struggle with concentrating.

Would you describe watching television while surfing though your internet browser on your laptop at the same time as a sign of being depressed? A study conducted by Mark Becker and his team at Michigan State University recently indicated close ties between individuals who are depressed and their multitasking media usage. A survey of 319 and their media use and mental health in which it was reported that “depressed or anxious people are turning to media multitasking that might actually help them deal with their problems. It could also serve as a warning sign that a youngster is becoming depressed or anxious.”  To investigate the impact of multitasking and attention deficit Brandon Ralph and his team at University of Waterloo set out an online study questionnaire where participants that included the media multitasking index and Media multitasking beliefs questionnaire (MMBQ). In this self-questionnaire study the researchers discovered positive correlation between multi-media tasking and attention deficit. The research further found “…we found no evidence of a significant relation between media multitasking and perceived ability to switch attention between tasks and, although we found an association between media multitasking and attention to internal distractions (i.e., off-task thoughts), and no association between media multitasking and feelings of distractibility with regard to environmental, or external, stimuli.”

Compiling the research conducted by Silton et el, Becker et el and finally Brandon Ralph and his team, we can connected the neural activity and the attention deficit that exist in depressed patients. Through media-multitasking the patients withdraw from their social interactions. During multi-media tasking the activity of the dACC is disrupted/out of sync in relation to LDFLPFC which lower the top-down attention control. Consequently, media-multitasking serves as way for these individuals to hide themselves and shift their attention focus, since media-multi tasking does not interfere with the attention switching process from one task to another task, however it does refrain them from focusing on their specific task. This task or focus maybe on their thoughts and internal conflicts that they may try to avoid, thus further weakening their productivity and social interactions. Whether media-multi tasking serves as treatment or a sign/symptom of depression is highly questionable as further research needs to be conducted.

Reference:

-Depression and anxious apprehension distinguish frontocingulate cortical activity during

    top-down attentional control. Silton, Rebecca Levin; Heller, Wendy; Engels, Anna S.;

       Towers, David N.; Spielberg, Jeffrey M.; Edgar, J. Christopher; Sass, Sarah M.;

           Stewart, Jennifer L.; Sutton, Bradley P.; Banich, Marie T.; Miller, Gregory A. Journal

              of Abnormal Psychology, Vol 120(2), May 2011, 272-285.

                 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023204

-Michigan State University. "Multiple media use tied to depression, anxiety." ScienceDaily.

     ScienceDaily, 4 December 2012.

       <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204145557.htm>.

- Ralph, Brandon, David Thomson, James Cheyne, and Daniel Smilek. "Media Multitasking

   and Failures of Attention in Everyday Life." Psychological Research An International

     Journal of Perception, Attention, Memory, and Action (2013). Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

          <http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00426-013-0523-7/fulltext.html>.

Taking Bipolar Disorder into the Digital Age

Bipolar Disorder affects millions of Americans each year. The disease often causes individuals to make to poor decisions with little regard for consequences. A key characteristic is mood cycling.  Individuals cycle from mania, which is feeling ecstatic, very energetic, and irritable. Individuals can easily change moods form mania to depression and extreme pessimism. 

            Those diagnosed with BPD have a difficult time maintaining relationships, and also have trouble in their respective fields of work. We know now that BPD affects cognitive functioning, emotional processing, as well as processing speed (Weisenbach et al., 2014). This study helps illustrate statistically through various tests how “both aging and disease impact fine motor and visual memory skills, albeit independently… There is a double burden of aging and disease in BPD that impacts the reported ability of a person to perform daily physical tasks” (Weisenbach et al., 2014). Over time, these adults are able to better coupe with their disorder, some turn to antipsychotics or mood stabilizers.

            A team of researchers at the University of Michigan is leading the way to better manage Bipolar Disorder. Advances in smartphone technology has enabled us to use phones in new ways that change our lives. From social media to business management, phones have given us the power of a computer in the palm of our hand. The Michigan team of researchers created a new app called Priori. The team is currently on its second pilot study involving 30 patients with BPD. Priori runs constantly in the background on a phone, using its microphone to track and analyze voice data. Mania is characterized by rapid and loud speech, with erratic topic changes. Depression, on the other hand, will involve more isolation and long pauses in speech (Alba, 2014).

            One of the patients, Bryan Timlin, compares using this app to an insulin tester because the app simply reads what the body is doing. Since he is aware of the readings, he is more aware of how he is feeling. Another reason why he likes Priori is because it’s harder to cheat during clinical assessments. He could easily lie about how he is doing and or feeling, but not with the data Priori provides. The researchers plan to gather data over the next two years. The goal is to use the information gathered to warn patients and doctors about upcoming bipolar episodes. Adam Haim, chief of clinical trials operations and biostatistics at the National Institute of Mental Health, states that “all signs are pointing toward the integration of evidence-based technology into mental healthcare” (Alba, 2014). The future is fruitful when looking at new ways to monitor and treat patients with Bipolar Disorder. New advances in technology, like Priori, will help ease the difficulties that people with BPD have to go through.

Works Cited: 

Alba, D. (2014, November 20). How Smartphone Apps Can Treat Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2014/11/mental-health-apps/

Weisenbach, L. S., Marshall, D., Weldon, L. A., Ryan, A. K., Vederman, C. A., Kamali, M., . . . Langenecker, A. S. (2014). The double burden of age and disease on cognition and quality of life in bipolar disorder. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(9), 952-961.

Prosthetic Hands

Every morning when we wake up, we can easily unscrew the cap on the toothpaste tube or open the fridge to pour ourselves a glass of milk. Without putting much thought into it, we use our hands to do almost anything and everything. What would happen if suddenly our ability to do one of these basic tasks suddenly declined? What would happen if we could only use of our hands to tie our shoes or get dressed? While this may bring troublesome thoughts in our minds, many people must face this exact situation on a daily basis.

However, with newer, better, and more promising technology, hand amputees may soon be able to obtain prosthetic hands that are powered by their own thoughts. Scientists at the University of Houston have created a method that is not invasive and can allow amputees to do the basics task of holding a bottle and credit cards with an eighty percent success rate. This entire process is done through the thought process and was created by an algorithm. Interestingly enough, the new hand shows similar success rates as the myoelectric hand that comes with the invasive procedure.

This new type of prosthetic arm incorporates the use of measuring the tiny electrical signals that flow out of the scalp which are captured by an electroencephalogram or EEG. The EEG cap covers the amputees head and the neural activity captured is converted into motor signals which allows for the amputee to grasp objects – at this point bottles and cards are tested. The reason this works is because the researchers claim that the brain is supposed to predict plausible movement. The noninvasive process definitely has its perks which include the no risk from surgical processes as well as helping those who may not have the neural activity that remains with the muscles.

However, the myoelectric prosthetic hand briefly mentioned before may actually be better for other cases. As Dr. Akhtar mentioned in his talk about designing a myoelectric hand, there are at least 30 million people with hand amputations in poor countries. The myoelectric prosthetic hand created by his team known as the Dextrus is certainly more affordable and allows for a wider range of grasps in addition to being able to grasp a bottle. These grasps range from being able to have a grip on a drill or a key to a small battery as well as other small household items. Myoelectric prosthetic hands work by electrodes being implanted deep into the muscles and nerve in the arm. This would result in myoelectric control of the arm where the electrical signals from the muscles would cause the prosthetic hand to function and move.

When it comes to comparing the different types of prosthetic hands available, it is important to realize that there is still a long journey ahead. While the Dextrus offers a wider range of motion due to its control being myoelectric, the prosthetic hand controlled by EEG signals is noninvasive. Perhaps, the ideal hand will come in the future which combines both of these methods. Until then remember to appreciate your hands every morning.

Akhtar, A., Bretyl, T., Nguyen, M., Slade, P. (2015). Tact: design and performance of an open-

source, affordable, myoelectric prothetic hand.The International Conference on Robotics
and Automation, 1-6.

University of Houston. (2015, March 31). Non-invasive technique allows amputee to use

bionic hand, powered by his thoughts. ScienceDaily.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150331131336.htm