July 2006 – Page 3

Treating cluster headaches with LSD and psilocybin

Neurology has an interesting report on the use of low doses of the hallucinogenic drugs LSD and psilocybin to treat cluster headaches.

Cluster headaches are incredibly painful and tend to occur frequently, making them particularly distressing for sufferers.

There were anecdotal reports that LSD and psilocybin (the main active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’) helped relieve these headaches and researchers have started to investigate more fully.

The Neurology study interviewed 53 cluster headache patients who had used psilocybin or LSD to treat their condition and found a significant number had their condition improved.

As cluster headaches are associated with the abnormal release of serotonin in the brain, and LSD and psilocybin largely work on the serotonin system, there is some theoretical basis for how the drugs might work.

However, this is a complex and poorly understood area so further controlled trials are now being planned to see whether the improvement is anything more than the placebo effect.

Interestingly, the study thanks drugs information site Erowid, as the site was involved in data collection and recruiting participants.

Research into LSD treatment for headaches was discussed in a recent edition of BBC All in the Mind.

Link to full text of paper.

Blind boy uses echolocation to ‘see’ world

I’m a bit skeptical about this story, but I’m not sure whether it’s just because it’s on AOL’s news service (not known for their cutting edge journalism) or whether it’s because it has a cutesy video of the boy ‘connecting’ with dolphins. If accurate though, it’s quite an amazing talent.

Completely blind since the age of 3, after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes (he now wears two prostheses), Ben has learned to perceive and locate objects by making a steady stream of sounds with his tongue, then listening for the echoes as they bounce off the surfaces around him. About as loud as the snapping of fingers, Ben’s clicks tell him what’s ahead: the echoes they produce can be soft (indicating metals), dense (wood) or sharp (glass). Judging by how loud or faint they are, Ben has learned to gauge distances.

Link to article ‘The Boy Who Sees with Sound’.

Directing dreams with sky orchestras

Artist Luke Jerram is working with sleep scientists to create a device that could direct the content of dreams.

Jerram is working with psychologists Drs Chris Alford and Jennie Parker to create and test a machine that uses sound in an effort to shape the individual dreamer’s experience.

It was inspired by Sky Orchestra, another project of Jerram’s that sent an orchestra of hot-air balloons into the sky to play sounds to a sleeping population to affect their dreams on a city-wide scale.

There is a video (wmv) of the ‘orchestra’ in action and it seems a truly beautiful way to be bathed in sound during the twilight of consciousness.

There’s more music from the sky orchestra at this site, so you can try out the effects for yourself.

Link to Dream Director web page.
Link to Sky Orchestra web page.

Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin

While wandering through a bookshop the other day I picked up a new book by pharmacologist Professor Leslie Iversen called Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin: The Science of Amphetamines and have been thoroughly hooked [insert your own joke here] ever since.

It covers the history, chemistry, culture, safety and neuropsychology of a huge range of amphetamines and related compounds.

Included are the common ‘street’ amphetamines like speed and meth, pharmaceutical amphetamines like Ritalin and dexamphetamine, and the substituted amphetamines of the ecstasy family.

Oxford Unversity Press are usually good at putting excerpts of their books online (usually the introduction or first chapter) but sadly, there doesn’t seem to be anything similar online for this publication (OUP if you’re listening, now’s the time!)

You won’t find a more comprehensive guide to these fascinating drugs, and the book has the advantage of being written at a engaging pace without skipping over any of the in-depth science. It is not intended to be a ‘popular science’ book but is much more accessible than the majority of academic texts, even for non-specialists.

Even today, over-the-counter inhalers containing amphetamine-like drugs are still available as decongestants, although the compounds now used are ones that act solely on the norepinephrine system in the peripheral sympathetic nervous system and are devoid of psychostimulant properties or abuse potential.

A little known fact is that the popular ‘Vick inhaler’ contains 50mg of methamphetamine (described on the label by the synonym deoxyephedrine) in free base oil form; however, it is not the psychoactive D-isomer of the drug but L-methamphetamine [or levmetamfetamine], which has no psychostimulant properties but retains some sympathomimetic activity. Innocent users of the Vick inhaler to treat the symptoms of the common cold can get into trouble with the law if subjected to a drugs test, as this will indicate the presence of methamphetamine unless the test is sufficiently sophisticated to tell the difference between the L- and D-isomers of the drug! [p31]

Link to details of book Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin.

Encephalon #2 arrives

The second issue of neuroscience blog carnival Encephalon has just been published on Pure Pedantry. Head over for long list of new neuroscience writing.

My favourite is from the Neurophilosopher’s Blog and is an article on the first example of neurosurgery literature – a papyrus from Ancient Egypt discussing the outcomes of 48 brain surgery cases!

Why do we dream?

There’s a short article from this month’s Scientific American available online where sleep specialist Professor Ernest Hartmann attempts to answer the question “Why do we dream?”.

Hartmann is a psychiatrist and the director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston, but notes that the exact function of dreaming is still largely a mystery, but summarises his recent popular scientific theory of its purpose.

Therefore I will try to explain a current view of dreaming and its possible functions, developed by myself and many collaborators, which we call the Contemporary Theory of Dreaming. The basic idea is as follows: activation patterns are shifting and connections are being made and unmade constantly in our brains, forming the physical basis for our minds. There is a whole continuum in the making of connections that we subsequently experience as mental functioning. At one end of the continuum is focused waking activity, such as when we are doing an arithmetic problem or chasing down a fly ball in the outfield. Here our mental functioning is focused, linear and well-bounded. When we move from focused waking to looser waking thought–reverie, daydreaming and finally dreaming–mental activity becomes less focused, looser, more global and more imagistic. Dreaming is the far end of this continuum: the state in which we make connections most loosely.

Link to Scientific American article ‘Why do we dream?’.

Switching, lapsing and gaming

There’s been a series of particularly good articles over at cognitive science blog Developing Intelligence recently – analysing everything from the cognitive neuroscience of task switching to evidence that video games might improve brain function.

Another particularly helpful article has been a comprehensive round-up of commentary on Paul Bloom’s article for Seed Magazine that argued that data from fMRI experiments are given undue weight and attention by both scientists and the media alike.

Link to Developing Intelligence.

Are you a miserable ovoid creature?

Omni Brain has found an hilarious spoof drug advert in the form of a marketing campaign for the fictional medication Proloxil.

Spoofing drugs and drug companies has now become a minor pastime on the internet, with a number of cutting satires available online.

The Onion has a brilliant news story ‘reporting’ on the launch of a new ‘Zoloft for everything’ ad campaign.

The Consumers Union produced a fantastically amusing video advert last year for the fake drug Progenitorivox, as part of their campaign to get drug companies to release all the data from their trials.

And who could possible resist wonder-drugs Panexa and Fukitol as a solution to your life problems?

How common is autism?

Research has been published in today’s Lancet on the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the population of UK children, suggesting that these disorders are more common than previously thought.

The paper reported that the prevalence of ASDs in the population is 116¬∑1 per 10,000 of the population – meaning just over 1% of the population are likely to qualify for one of these diagnoses.

“One of these diagnoses” is the crucial phrase here, as Baird and colleagues were not looking just for ‘classic’ or ‘narrowly defined’ autism (diagnosed as childhood autism in the ICD-10), but at the whole of the autism spectrum disorders – also known as pervasive developmental disorders.

BBC News has a good write-up on the study including a crucial quote from the Lancet article’s main author Professor Gillian Baird:

Whether the increase is due to better ascertainment, broadening diagnostic criteria, or increased incidence is unclear.

In fact, the reported prevalence of the narrow form of autism was only 38.9 in 10,000 of the population, less than 0.4%.

In contrast, autism spectrum or pervasive developmental disorders have a much broader scope, and can include both a 10 year-old child with no language, severe learning disabilities, lack of social interest and restricted interests (‘narrow’ autism) to a bright articulate 10 year-old child who is socially awkward and bit inflexible in his thinking.

This is largely because of fairly recently included diagnoses such as ‘Asperger syndrome’, ‘Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specificed’ (PDD-NOS) and ‘Atypical Autism’ which, particularly for the latter two, have much wider criteria.

Although Baird and colleagues used systematic methods for making their diagnoses, it’s interesting that there’s quite a pressure on everyday clinicians to make these sort of diagnoses for children who are having emotional or behavioural problems.

Having one of these diagnoses entitles children to special educational support or even a place in an expensive yet well-supported special school in many areas of the UK.

Who wouldn’t want special support for their child who is doing badly in education and is constantly distressed by school life? This in turn puts pressure on local clinicians, and on the medical establishment, to recognise these difficulties by widening the diagnostic criteria.

I sometimes smile to myself when I see news stories about science and medicine being out of touch with society, since the history of medicine suggests that there is an intimate connection between medical decisions and social needs.

Link to abstract of Lancet study on ASD prevalence.
Link to BBC News story on research.

2006-07-14 Spike activity

Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:

Washington Post discusses the prejudices associated with elderly mental illness.

The neuroscience of playing chicken is analysed on Mixing Memory.

Time Magazine has an in-depth article on the ‘New Science of Siblings‘ looking at the genetic influences on thought and behaviour.

Neurophilosophy blog discusses a potential new blood test for prion diseases like vCJD and mad cow disease.

Deric Bownds’ Biology of Mind Blog hits full stride.

There’s a wonderful article on ‘What a synapse does when it’s not doing anything‘ on Gene Expression.

Magic mushrooms cause profound spiritual experiences. Pope still catholic.

Free will, criminal acts and brain tumours: The Times discusses cases where neuropathology seems to have led directly to criminal behaviour.

Science News analyses the ‘neglected’ impact of ADHD in girls.

Research suggests early brain scans may predict later Alzheimer’s disease.

The dangers of sleep

Sleep, it seems, is a dangerous pastime. The less sleep you get, the greater your chances of becoming obese; the more sleep you get, the greater your chances of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Enough to give you sleepless nights, really.

Luria archive sheds light on ‘father of neuropsychology’

The University of California, San Diego have created an extensive online archive of material related to the pioneering Russian neuropsychologist A.R. Luria, who is often considered the ‘father’ of the modern neuropsychology.

Like another famous neuroscientist, Eric Kandel, he originally intended to look for a scientific basis for Freudian concepts of the mind.

As time went on, he began to develop short tasks designed to tap specific mental skills and abilities – a technique now almost universally used in cognitive and neuropsychology. The photo on the right shows Luria (in the white coat) testing a patient with one of his tasks.

His encounters with the large number of brain-injured soldiers returning from World War Two led Luria to make links between specific areas of the brain and certain mental functions, which he could test by using his tasks and testing their diagnostic accuracy.

Some of the tasks he developed to make and test these links are still used by neuropsychologists today.

As well as writing some of the most influential books on the practise of neuropsychology, he also wrote up detailed neuropsychological biographies of two remarkable patients.

The Mind of a Mnemonist was a case study of ‘S’, who had a striking form of synaesthesia that gave him a memory so reliable that one of his main problems was being unable to forget – meaning he often became overwhelmed by detail of his memories and could not focus on the most important aspects.

In contrast, The Man with a Shattered World recounted the story of a soldier who suffered selective impairments to memory, perception and language after suffering a head wound in battle.

Luria recounted the personal experiences and histories of these remarkable individuals alongside his scientific investigations into their brain function.

He called this deeply personal form of scientific investigation ‘romantic science’, and is cited by Oliver Sacks as a major influence on his own style of writing and subject matter.

The UCSD Luria archive has everything from essays on his work, to a video documentary about the man himself, and is a crucial resource for those interested both in this hugely influential figure and the history of neuropsychology.

Link to UCSD Luria archive.

What a wiki is good for

Matt and I researched and co-wrote Mind Hacks using a wiki (MoinMoin). The wiki was just right for what we were doing – a brief, intense project with lots of information which needed efficient sharing and storing. Our use of the wiki was as part of the process, rather than aiming to produce a public, finished project (like say Wikipedia). We loved using the wiki as a provisional, shared, short-term memory – an ideal note taking device which allowed us to explore the ideas and information in Mind Hacks without getting bogged down by it all. We loved it so much that we’ve written an article about what wikis are and our view of how they are best used for the O’Reilly Network, What Is a Wiki (and How to Use One for Your Projects) – let us know what you think!

Coma – the comedy

Nigel Smith is a respected British comedy writer whose new show Vent has just hit BBC Radio 4. It is based around his experiences of suffering a demyelinating brain stem lesion and falling into a serious coma.

Luckily, Smith has recovered, although still has difficulties with many everyday activities, but has managed to write a dryly comic show about the darkest of times with some wit and panache.

The show is full of reverie and comic fantasy, contrasted with incisive commentary on the banality of everyday family life when a member is less than willing to engage in conversation.

“Some rules about comas: 1) Mothers never switch off the life support. They can’t do it. Maybe it’s love? Maybe it’s for the first time since you were on the tit, they’ve got you where they want you. They finally know where you are, they know you’re warm, you’re eating regularly and you’re having those quiet nights in they always dreamed of.”

The show is archived online, so you can listen to past episodes if you’re not in the UK.

Link to audio archive of Vent.
Link to Times article on Smith’s experiences.

Brain-Computer Interfaces

In this week’s edition of the journal Nature my colleagues and I at Brown and Cyberkinetics present more results from the first human implanted with a multi-electrode array-based direct-brain-computer interface, and also my colleagues at Stanford present a report on experiments exploring the maximum bit rate possible with such direct interfaces. Nature has provided a series of interviews and animations on the topic free to the public here.

A visual history of pharmaceutical drug ads

There’s a wonderful collection of borderline-psychedelic drug adverts taken from the Spanish magazine Cl√≠nica Rural during the 1960s.

There’s now quite a collection of drug adverts on the net, giving an interesting historical and cultural insight into how mind altering medication has been pitched to consumers over the years.

The Japanese Gallery of Psychiatric Art is one of my favourites, which contains some equally kitsch artwork from 1956 to the present.

Alternatively, this gallery has a collection of American drug adverts including the surprising advert for the drug Thorazine captioned “Tyrant in the house? Thorazine can help control the agitated, belligerent senile”.

At the time of this advert, drugs like Thorazine (also known by its generic name chlorpromazine) were marketed as major tranquillisers.

One of its other trade-names was Largactil, intended to communicate the idea that it was ‘large acting’ and could be used to treat most forms of mental disorder.

This class of drug was then re-branded as ‘neuroleptics’, and now as ‘anti-psychotics’, showing the ongoing process of marketing and re-marketing that occurs as drug companies position themselves to best promote their wares.

Link to Spanish drug ads gallery (via BB).
Link to the Japanese Gallery of Psychiatric Art.
Link to vintage drug ads page.