Brain news is exciting!
August 6th 2009 23:38
Signature Tune
Did you know that a cloudy day can actually make your brain sluggish especially if you already suffer from depression. For those who do this is probably not news to them.
This can result in impaired cognition, not a good way to go.
From: examiner.com we learn of the benefits of pre-school education, but are cautioned about too much of it.
They report that:
Morning Greeting:
Whenever an adult speaks directly and personally to a preschool child, cascades of impulses go through the child’s neurons (nerve cells), which are connected to one another by synapses. The repetition of these kinds of positive early interactions actually helps the brain reinforce the existing connections and make new ones.
Fingerplay:
By a couple of months of age, babies can process the emotional contours of language (prosody), which means they tune into the emotional variations in your voice. (In fact, toddlers can memorize nursery rhymes because rhymes have prosody!) As the preschool teacher raises her voice an octave and draws out her vowels, the child’s brain responds by sending even more chemical and electrical impulses across the synapses.
Storytime:
Early childhood teachers are careful to have small groups for story time so that preschool children are able to get involved and process information. Young children need real interactions in order to learn.
Free play/ Work time:
During free play, preschool children interact with one another. As they communicate, whether through beginning language or more sophisticated use of words, the neurons in their brains are making more connections, critical for reinforcing learning.
Snack [or Mealtimes]:
Further opportunities for communication lead to the repetition of impulses sent through the brain. The more repetition that goes on, the more the brain grows sure in its understanding. Repetition of language sounds is crucial to brain development
Circle time [Review time]:
As the early childhood caregiver focuses her attention on each individual child in the large group activity, the child must think about the topic for the day. The child’s brain will be active as he/she retrieves from memory something special in her own personal history that she has learned. Each day children reap the benefits of preschool education.
I never went to pre-school, it just didn't happen in my day but have always been a high academic achiever, I guess circumstances alter cases, but I used to watch enviously as my brotheres went off to school and there were no tears from me when I started, before that I yearned for other little children to play with. That would have been great.
The Washington Post adds to the almost daily news of stimulating games being good for delaying dementia. So do keep your mind active while you still can.
Vets are leading the way at treating brain cancers in animals which it is hoped will be able to be applied to humans
From: MPR News, St. Paul, Minn. — One year ago, researchers at the University of Minnesota began an experimental procedure to save a dog from an aggressive brain tumor.
By treating Batman, a mixed-breed German shepherd, the University of Minnesota's College of Veterinary Medicine researchers hoped to gain valuable insights into new ways of treating brain tumors in humans.
Veterinary surgeon G. Elizabeth Pluhar has spent the past year caring for Batman during his cancer treatment. After months of good progress reports, Wednesday was his final visit her lab for a brain scan.
Pluhar had already looked at some images that showed no signs of cancer, but the true measure of success was a series of contrast photos that were still loading into the computer Wednesday.
"It's a little difficult (to see) because there's scar tissue in there, too," Pluhar says.
Scar tissue from Batman's surgery looks a little suspicious when you see it on his scan, but a trained eye like Pluhar's knows it's nothing to worry about. A few moments later, she gives the all clear.
"I don't see any tumor right now," she says. "Which is wonderful."
Batman's recovery is remarkable. The 13-year-old shepard mix had a very aggressive form of brain cancer called a glioma. It's the same type of cancer Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy is battling.
Gliomas are tricky to treat because they send out little tentacles that infiltrate other parts of the brain, and surgery alone usually isn't sufficient to cure a glioma.
Batman the dogSo university researchers from the vet school, the medical school and the Masonic Cancer Center devised a treatment for Batman that began with surgery. After that, the dog received gene therapy and a custom-made, anti-cancer vaccine designed to boost his immune system.
Researcher John Ohlfest, who helped create the new immune therapies, said the vaccine is made up of dead cancer cells from Batman's tumor that have been enhanced in a way that makes them much more obvious to the dog's immune system.
Ohlfest can't say exactly why the vaccine has worked so well, but his team is working feverishly to figure it out.
So there's some interesting news there for everyone.
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