Thought-Controlled Helicopter Offers Hope For Patients With Paralysis, Neurodegenerative Disorders

A remote controlled helicopter has been flown through a series of hoops around a college gymnasium in Minnesota. .....The experiments have been performed by researchers hoping to develop future robots that can help restore the autonomy of paralysed victims or those suffering from neurodegenerative disorders. ....

Changes In The Aging Brain Affect Hand-Eye Coordination

.......For many older adults, the aging process seems to go hand-in-hand with an annoying increase in clumsiness - difficulties dialing a phone, fumbling with keys in a lock or knocking over the occasional wine glass while reaching for a salt shaker. 

....."Our study shows that in addition to physical and perceptual changes, difficulties in interaction may also be caused by changes in how older adults mentally represent the objects near them." 

.....When tested on a series of simple tasks involving hand movements, young people in this study adopted an attentional reference frame centered on the hand, while older study participants adopted a reference frame centered on the body. 

....."We showed in our paper that older adults do not use an "action centered" reference frame. Instead they use a "body centered" one," ... "As a result, they might be less able to effectively adjust their reaching movements to avoid obstacles - and that's why they might knock over the wine glass after reaching for the salt shaker." ....

Comments: This brings to the forefront the possibility that even though as we age these abilities decrease and our "frame of references" changes, that we can then use optometric vision therapy to enhance those skills for those of us who are :chronologically enhanced". Click the title above for more information. DM

Second Concussion Symptoms Last Longer

Children who suffer from a second or third concussion take much longer to recover.....

....Normally it only takes a couple of weeks for the symptoms of concussion to go, which include: Amnesia, Depresion, Disturbed sleep, Hyperacusis - sensitivity to sounds, Irritability, Lack of concentration, focus, Moodiness, Photophobia ......

.... people who had suffered from a second concussion took over a month to recover.

......Kids who suffered from a second concussion within one year of suffering their first one experienced the symptoms for three times longer than those whose concussions were more than a year apart.
Other factors that resulted in a longer recovery time, included: Being over the age of 13, Having very severe symptoms at the ER visit, Experiencing no loss of consciousness.....

Comments: Read more by clicking on the title above. DM

Top-down Visual Framework for Optometric Vision Therapy for those with Traumatic Brain Injury

 Vision therapy has been successful in reducing visual symptoms experienced by patients with sensorimotor visual deficits since the early twentieth century. Recently, there has been a surge of scientific research in the area of neuroplasticity demonstrating physiological changes evident following rehabilitation in those with traumatic brain injury. This research has revealed changes to the brain after therapy in the areas of language and motor function, which could also apply to vision rehabilitation. This article provides an overview of the concept of neuroplasticity, along with the contemporary research, which supports the importance of top-down, visual information processing in optometric vision therapy. Based upon this neuroplasticity research, a template will be proposed to assist the vision rehabilitation practitioner in developing protocols and enhancing vision therapy procedures to address visual processing deficits as a result of traumatic brain injury more effectively.

Comments: Read the article by clicking on the title above. DM

20% Of Children Have A Mental Disorder

• ADHD (6.8%)
• Conduct or Behavioral Problems (3.5%)
• Anxiety (3.0%)
• Depression (2.1%)
• Autism spectrum disorders (1.1%)
• Tourette syndrome (0.2% among children 6-17 years old)

Comments: I have a bit of a problem with this number. Although, if you are going to trust anyone...the CDC is the one I would normally place my trust. I would need to see how they defined these disorders (for instance Autism has changed its definition...which could, at least in part, explain its increase), and how they "counted them". DM

Dr. Patrick Quaid:Video on Vision and Reading

Video about vision and reading by my colleague, Dr. Patrick Quaid. Take a look at this....

Brain Stimulation Can Boost Math Skills

"Long-Term Enhancement of Brain Function and Cognition Using Cognitive Training and Brain Stimulation"
Albert Snowball, Ilias Tachtsidis, Tudor Popescu, Jacqueline Thompson, Margarete Delazer, Laura Zamarian, Tingting Zhu, Roi Cohen Kadosh Current Biology - 16 May 2013 - 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.045

Noninvasive brain stimulation has shown considerable promise for enhancing cognitive functions by the long-term manipulation of neuroplasticity ....(transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS)) .....Five consecutive days of TRNS-accompanied cognitive training enhanced the speed of both calculation- and memory-recall-based arithmetic learning. .....These results demonstrate that, depending on the learning regime, TRNS can induce long-term enhancement of cognitive and brain functions. .....