It looks like the statue of Winston Churchill in a strait-jacket (see previously on Mind Hacks) has been removed by the owners of The Forum – the library and tourism centre where the monument was displayed for three days.
There’s more information at the Rethink website, including a downloadable postcard of the statue!
AADT have some intriguing coverage on recent concerns that popular sleep drug Ambien is linked to ‘sleep driving’ and ‘sleep eating’ in some people.
The issue has recently been covered by the New York Times owing to the increase in people who have had the drug detected in their body by toxicology tests after “bizarre” road traffic accidents.
A registered nurse who lives outside Denver took Ambien before going to sleep one night in January 2003. Sometime later — she says she remembers none of the episode — she got into her car wearing only a thin nightshirt in 20-degree weather, had a fender bender, urinated in the middle of an intersection, then became violent with police officers, according to her lawyer.
The woman, whose lawyer says she previously had a pristine traffic record, eventually pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of careless driving after the prosecutors partly accepted her version of events, said the lawyer, Lloyd L. Boyer.
A further article from the NYT examines a recent study which looked at Ambien users who seemed to compulsively eat while asleep.
Although sleep-walking and related behaviours and relatively common, some researchers suspect that the drug may make them more likely, although no clear explanation for why this might happen is available.
Link to ‘Dangers Begin to Surface for Sleep Drugs’ from AADT.
Link to NYT article ‘Some Sleeping Pill Users Range Far Beyond Bed’ (reg free link).
Link to NYT article ‘Study Links Ambien Use to Unconscious Food Forays’ (reg free link).
Amedeo Challenge, the site aiming to fund the creation of high-quality open-access medical textbooks, is now taking small and private donations.
On the donations page you can give towards a ‘bounty’ for the completion of a textbook on a number of different topics.
Medical professionals and researchers can work towards creating books to claim the bounty. So far, online books on HIV and influenza have already been published and bounties are available for books on tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.
Of interest to readers here might be proposed books on Alzheimer’s disease, neurology and Parkinson’s disease (I’ve just donated 50 euros towards the creation of an open-access textbook on neurology and can’t wait to see it online).
When completed the books will be freely available for online viewing, to print, and will not have restrictions to prevent them from being translated into other languages.
Unfortunately, medical textbooks can be incredibly expensive (50 euros would be a cheap one) which make them inaccessible to many doctors and researchers in economically deprived countries, not to mention impoverished students the world over.
High-quality open-access textbooks would, therefore, be of great advantage to the advancement of medical science and training throughout the world.
Even the smallest donations will be of use.
Spread the word!
Link to Amedeo Challenge.
Link to Amedeo Challenge donations page.
Thomas Rams√∏y, one of the guys responsible for the Brain Ethics blog, has written a fantastic introduction to the emerging field of ‘imaging genetics’ for Science and Consciousness Review.
Imaging genetics uses neuroimaging (‘brain scanning’) to examine the differences in brain activation between people with different versions of a gene, both to understand the interaction between cognition, behaviour and genetics; and to better understand mental distress and psychiatric illness.
Rams√∏y uses the example of a gene known as ‘5-HTTLPR’, which codes for the serotonin transporter protein – involved in regulating the concentration of serotonin in the synapse (the ‘gap’ where neurons connect and communicate chemically).
People who hold different versions of this gene are known to show different levels of anxiety and respond differently to anxiety or fear provoking tasks.
Rams√∏y notes that the ‘5-HTTLPR’ genotype can determine how the amygdala reacts to fearful and angry faces, suggesting how this differing anxiety response is supported by brain function.
Psychiatry is increasingly using this approach to identify the ‘endophenotypes‘ of disorders, in an attempt to get away from an understanding of mental illness based largely on self-reported symptoms.
The Science and Consciousness Review article is an excellent introduction to this field, and a forthcoming article in Biological Psychiatry gives a more in-depth treatment for those wanting extra detail
Link to ‘How your genes make up your mind’ by Thomas Rams√∏y.
Link to abstract of Biological Psychiatry article (full article not open access unfortunately).
Carl Zimmer has deleted his post on the controversy surrounding an upcoming TV programme about a Turkish family who walk on ‘all fours’ (see previously on Mind Hacks).
Presumably, he could do without the headache (and who can blame him?).
Nevertheless, there’s a good analysis over at Gene Expression, to which an interesting comment has been added by one of the TV company’s production team, explaining Nicholas Humphrey’s views more accurately.
Humphrey was widely cited (seemingly incorrectly) as the person suggesting that the inherited problem in the family caused an ‘evolutionary regression’. It seems his actual analysis is a lot more measured.
Today is the start of Brain Awareness Week with a number of events happening across the globe.
Your local college, university or science museum might be putting on public events about the mind and brain, and encouraging lively debate and participation.
The Brain Awareness Week website also has plenty of resources, including everything from in-depth educational materal to puzzles and quizzes for younger children.
Link to Brain Awareness Week website.
ABC Radio National’s All in the Mind has had a couple of related editions over the last couple of weeks that have tackled the psychology and neuroscience of creative thought.
Psychiatrist and one-time english literature professor Nancy Andreasan discusses the neuroscience of creativity and whether genius is related to particular brain states or measurable mental attributes.
The most recent All in the Mind continues the theme, discussing ‘Outsider art‘ – artworks created by those who have had no formal training and often little or no contact with the mainstream art world.
‘Outsider art’ is often associated with people who experience mental illness, particularly psychosis, and the programme features artist Anthony Mannix who has been inspired by his experience of altered states.
One of the most famous historical examples is Adolf Wölfli, a troubled orphan who ended up in a Swiss asylum at an early age, but began creating books of visual art, music and text that he would continue to develop for the rest of his life.
We’ve featured previous posts on outsider art here and here on Mind Hacks.
The Creating Brain
mp3 or realaudio of programme.
Link to transcript.
Outsider Art
mp3 or realaudio of programme.
Link to transcript.
I just found this great three-panel comic strip from Partially Clips that made me laugh out loud.
It looks like a case of iatrogenic paraphasia, perhaps induced by an accidental lesion to the temporal lobe?
I’ve just realised I’m diagnosing cartoon characters. I think I need to get out more.
Link to ‘Brain surgeon’ comic strip from Partially Clips (thanks John!).
As part of an anti-stigma campaign, mental health charity Rethink has unveiled a statue of Winston Churchill in a strait-jacket, to highlight the great war-leader’s struggles with mental illness.
Churchill was subject to severe bouts of clinical depression throughout his life (which he called his “black dog”). Despite these, he managed to lead and inspire millions of people through the difficult years of World War Two.
Demonstrating that there’s still some way to go before stigma is eradicated, the headline in one UK national daily newspaper, the Daily Express, is “Insult to Britain’s Greatest Hero”.
This leads me to ask, what is so insulting about the image? Actually putting someone in a strait-jacket is insulting, but depicting them in one is something quite different.
Although an outdated clich√©, the strait-jacket symbolises mental illness to many people and the statue is just meant to emphasise Churchill’s experience of mental distress
I’ve personally used Churchill as an example of hope to many patients I’ve met in psychiatric hospital and it usually comes as a surprise that he was mentally ill.
Hopefully, the controversy has served its purpose and more people are now aware that great things can come from troubled minds.
Link to ‘Churchill sculpture sparks uproar’ from BBC News.
Trauma has been traditionally considered as intrinsically pathological. Some psychologists are now arguing that although damaging, the experience of trauma can also inspire some people to change in positive ways.
The concept has been named ‘post-traumatic growth’ and is the subject of significant debate among contemporary researchers and clinicians.
The debate is covered in a recent article for Psychology Today where proponents of both sides of the argument make their case.
The article relates the experience of trauma to activities such as ultra-marathon running where competitors may run hundreds of miles and push themselves to physical and psychological exhaustion in an attempt to achieve new goals.
A slightly more weighty article on the topic appeared in a 2004 article in the Psychiatric Times where psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun aimed to explain how such personal development could occur after extreme experiences.
One thing which is still not clear, is how many people experience ‘post-traumatic growth’ and whether it is more than optimistic thinking after the event, as research into the phenomenon is still relatively thin on the ground.
Link to Psychology Today article “The Hidden Side of Happiness”.
Link to Psychiatric Times article “Posttraumatic Growth: A New Perspective on Psychotraumatology”.
There’s a storm brewing on Carl Zimmer’s blog The Loom over an upcoming documentary about a family that walks on ‘all fours’ – which some have claimed is the result of a genetic mutation that causes evolutionary regression.
Those with their heads more firmly screwed on suggest that it could result from inherited abnormalities to the cerebellum which has a significant role in supporting movement and balance.
There are now accusations that the family involved were paid off, and that other scientists weren’t allowed access to the family members, and tempers are starting to fray.
The discussion is ongoing.
Link to post and discussion on Carl Zimmer’s The Loom (see point 3).
Link to coverage of the story on World Science.
Quick links from the past week in mind and brain news:
PBS have an online documentary about anorexia called ‘Dying to be thin‘.
PsyBlog discusses how we maintain a sense of identity when we live regulated lives.
BBC Radio 4’s science programme Leading Edge discusses Stroke, transcranial magnetic stimulation and aggression.
Blogger records the recent LSD symposium in honour of Albert Hoffman.
Science News suggests ways to optimises the brain in two parts: 1) Exercise; 2) Nutrition.
The New York Times discusses recent genetic evidence that humans are still evolving.
Happiness is a false memory says an engaging article by Mixing Memory.
Nature discusses the light and colour-based art work of Dan Flavin.
Leading scientist of the Human Genome Project expects genes ‘governing’ personality to be found.
Consciousness continues to baffle psychoanalysts says Psychiatric News (who doesn’t it baffle?).
Why do I have a bad feeling about the upcoming BBC series Get Smarter in a Week? It’s discussed in this article in The Guardian.
Is it because it claims that ‘brain exercises’ can make someone ‘40% cleverer’ in a week (whatever that’s supposed to mean), or perhaps because this claim is based on a trial of 15 volunteers with no control group?
Control groups are essential because people can improve due to non-specific effects (such as the placebo effect or the Pygmalion effect) where simply being involved with people trying to help you can have a beneficial effect – regardless of how effective the actual treatment is.
Looking at the advice recounted in The Guardian article, it mostly seems quite sensible if continued in the long term, i.e. practising mental skills, eating well and staying fit (although I’m not sure there’s much evidence that having a shower with your eyes closed in likely to improve the mind in any significant way).
I suspect, however, that most people will come away from the programme with the idea that doing these activities for only a week will cause a permanent improvement in their intelligence.
One of the best ways of making yourself ‘cleverer’ is to understand how to evaluate scientific claims, particularly when they’re used as ideas for TV programmes.
Of course, this may all be hype before ‘Get Smarter in a Week’ hits the airwaves, but I’d question the use of misleading scientific claims to promote a popular science programme.
Anyway, I look forward to being pleasantly surprised (or not).
In the meantime, the best bets for sharpening your mental abilities are: eat healthily, exercise regularly, stay mentally active.
Oh, and consider watching less TV (see also this pdf). Strangely, that’s one they forgot to mention.
Link to uncritical Guardian article on ‘Get Smarter in a Week’.
Asylum, a 1972 documentary filmed in the therapeutic community established by radical psychiatrist R.D. Laing, is available for download via this bittorrent tracker.
Laing wanted to establish a community for helping those who were experiencing mental distress without recourse to the uneven power balances present in mainstream psychiatry, where patients can be forcibly detained or drugged.
The result was the Archway Community, where residents were free to come and go and lived together with psychiatrists.
The film is largely without a narrative structure and simply captures some of the people and situations that occur during a seven week period.
The first thing that struck me was how bleak, chaotic and depressing it looked, far from the utopian vision of its founder. The residents are treated with respect, however, and are genuinely listened to, although the surroundings can hardly be described as luxurious.
The film is quite difficult to get hold of, so finding it online is a rare treat.
It isn’t necessarily an easy film to watch, although it gives a fascinating insight into one of the most influential and misunderstood people and projects from the heyday of radical psychiatry.
The film shouldn’t be confused with the other 1972 Asylum which was a low budget horror flick starring Peter Cushing and Britt Ekland.
Link to webpage with torrent of movie.
Link to information about the film.
Link to Wikipedia page on Bittorrent.
Today is International Women’s Day, where the achievements of women are celebrated, which seems particularly appropriate in the cognitive sciences as there is a strong tradition of female participation.
In fact, the majority of cognitive scientists are women and most males will find themselves outnumbered on psychology and neuroscience courses.
This is, perhaps, because there are some strong female role models who have made a huge impact on the understanding of human thought and behaviour.
One of my many female heroes is neuropsychologist Professor Elizabeth Warrington, who published her first paper in 1962, and, although now officially retired, is still heavily involved in research and is publishing regularly.
Warrington was one of the most influential figures in the development of cognitive neuropsychology and helped define the field during its emergence in the 1970s and 1980s.
Many of the standard clinical assessments of cognitive function were created by her, which are now crucial components of clinical assessment after brain injury.
Link to Royal Society Fellowship Citation for Elizabeth Warrington.
Link to PubMed entries for Elizabeth Warrington.
The claim that people with autism have an impaired ‘theory of mind‘ (that is, they are supposedly not able to imagine what other people are thinking) is one of the most commonly repeated ‘facts’ about the condition.
This typically infuriates people with autism, especially when it gets translated into the more everyday, and, perhaps, even less accurate claim, that autism involves a ‘lack of empathy’.
It is now being challenged by researchers, such as Professor Morton Gernsbacher, who are comparing the performance of participants with autism on experimental tests of ‘theory of mind’ with individuals who do not have autism but do have similar problems in understanding language.
Gernsbacher is interviewed in a short section on BBC Radio 4’s science programme Leading Edge (starts 15 minutes into the realaudio stream) where she explains that apparent ‘theory of mind’ problems may be due to participants with autism not always understanding the complexity of the verbal instructions in tests such as the ‘Sally-Anne’ task.
Gernsbacher claims that in ‘theory of mind’ tests that use drawing, rather than verbal interaction, autistic children actually do better than non-autistic children.
This echoes findings from studies on non-autistic deaf children (pdf) who seem to show ‘theory of mind’ impairments if they suffer problems with language development, but not if they become fluent in sign-language.
Link to description of ‘theory of mind’.
Link to Leading Edge webpage for 23rd Feb edition (via Autism Diva).
Realaudio of programme (section starts 15 minutes in).
Link to flash heavy website of Morton Gernsbacher’s lab.
PDF of ‘Insights into theory of mind from autism and deafness’ by Peterson and Siegal.
Mind Hacks 