Cochlear Implants Reduce Delay Suffered By Deaf Children In Language Acquisition, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Oct. 19, 2009) — A multidisciplinary group at Malaga University, headed by Ignacio Moreno-Torres, is collecting information on the milestones that mark the development of deaf children fitted with a Cochlear Implant (CI) and studying to what extent the social and family environment affects this development. This research is funded with 101,000 euro by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Innovation.

The researchers have observed in this first year of the study that, three months after receiving the implant all the children showed improvement in their perception and ability to detect sounds around them. Children quickly learn that the CI is a device that allows them to hear and if it is deactivated they protest or make gestures asking that it be switched back on.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Fine-tuning Treatments For Depression

ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2009) — New research clarifies how neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine, are regulated -- a finding that may help fine-tune therapies for depression.

Current drugs for depression target the regulatory process for neurotransmitters, and while effective in some cases, do not appear to work in other cases.

Recent findings suggest that synucleins, a family of small proteins in the brain, are key players in the management of neurotransmitters -- specifically, alpha- and gamma-synuclein. Additionally, researchers have found elevated levels of gamma-synuclein in the brains of both depressed animals and humans.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Mercury Levels In Children With Autism And Those Developing Typically Are The Same, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2009) — In a large population-based study published online today, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute report that after adjusting for a number of factors, typically developing children and children with autism have similar levels of mercury in their blood streams. Mercury is a heavy metal found in other studies to adversely affect the developing nervous system.

The study, appearing in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is the most rigorous examination to date of blood-mercury levels in children with autism. The researchers cautioned, however, that the study is not an examination of whether mercury plays a role in causing the disorder.

"We looked at blood-mercury levels in children who had autism and children who did not have autism," said lead study author Irva Hertz-Picciotto, an internationally known MIND Institute researcher and professor of environmental and occupational health. "The bottom line is that blood-mercury levels in both populations were essentially the same. However, this analysis did not address a causal role, because we measured mercury after the diagnosis was made."

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Popular Antidepressant Associated With A Dramatic Increase In Suicidal Thoughts Amongst Men, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2009) — Nortriptyline has been found to cause a ten-fold increase in suicidal thoughts in men when compared to its competitor escitalopram. These findings are published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

The research was carried out by Dr. Nader Perroud from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, who headed up GENDEP, an international team. Dr Perroud said "Suicidal thoughts and behaviours during antidepressant treatment have prompted warnings by regulatory bodies". He continued "the aim of our study was to investigate the emergence and worsening of suicidal thoughts during treatment with two different types of antidepressant."

Both escitalopram and nortriptyline have their effect through the mood modulating neurotransmitter systems. The former is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), preventing serotonin from re-entering the cell and thereby prolonging its effect on nerve synapses. The latter is a tricyclic antidepressant that inhibits the reuptake of noradrenaline, and to a lesser extent, that of serotonin.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

STAR equipment pickups coming up in South Carolina

The STAR Re-Use network inventory and pickup schedule can be found at:

http://www.waltonoptions.org/star/#hours

Please call Walton Options or one of our STAR partners if you want to be a part of these routes. More information can be found at:

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/reutilization.html

STAR partners can be found at:

http://www.sc.edu/scatp/starnetwork.html

Redefining Dementia as a Terminal Illness

Time (Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009) -- Dementia is most often thought of as a memory disorder, an illness of the aging mind. In its initial stages, that's true — memory loss is an early hallmark of dementia. But experts in the field say dementia is more accurately defined as fatal brain failure: a terminal disease, like cancer, that physically kills patients, not simply a mental ailment that accompanies older age.

That distinction is largely unfamiliar both to the general public and within the medical field, yet it is a crucial one when it comes to treatment decisions for end-stage dementia patients. Dr. Greg Sachs at the Indiana University Center for Aging Research says a lack of appreciation of the nature of dementia leads to misguided and often overly aggressive end-stage treatment. Five years ago, Sachs wrote a paper on such barriers to palliative end-of-life care for dementia patients, but he ran into difficulty explaining the findings to the editors of the major medical journal that published it. "The editors kept coming back to me and saying, 'But what do the patients die of? You don't die from dementia.' And I kept saying, 'Yes, they do. That's the whole point of the paper,' " says Sachs.

Now, a large, prospective study to be published in the Oct. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine goes a long way toward identifying the true course of the slow-progressing disease, which affects some 5 million Americans — a number that is expected to triple by 2050. "This is the first large study to show what specialists have been arguing for years. Dementia is a terminal illness, and patients warrant palliative care," says Sachs, who wrote an editorial that appears in the same issue of the journal.

By Catherine Elton

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

'ECG For The Mind' Could Diagnose Depression In An Hour

Diagnostic technique being applied in practice. (Credit: Image courtesy of Monash University)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2009) — An innovative diagnostic technique invented by a Monash University researcher could dramatically fast-track the detection of mental and neurological illnesses.

Monash biomedical engineer Brian Lithgow has developed electrovestibulography which is something akin to an 'ECG for the mind'. Patterns of electrical activity in the brain's vestibular (or balance) system are measured against distinct response patterns found in depression, schizophrenia and other Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders.

The vestibular system is closely connected to the primitive regions of the brain that relate to emotions and behaviour, so Lithgow saw the diagnostic potential of measuring and comparing different patterns of electrovestibular activity.

Working with psychiatry researchers at Monash University's Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc) in Melbourne, Australia, he tested volunteers and found distinct response patterns, or "biomarkers", that distinguished different CNS diseases from each other and from regular electrovestibular activity.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Scientists Remove Amyloid Plaques From Brains Of Live Animals With Alzheimer's Disease

Research in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease points to a possible new treatment that actually removes amyloid plaques from patients' brains. (Credit: iStockphoto)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 16, 2009) — A breakthrough discovery by scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL, may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease that actually removes amyloid plaques — considered a hallmark of the disease — from patients' brains.

This discovery, published online in The FASEB Journal, is based on the unexpected finding that when the brain's immune cells (microglia) are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove plaques instead of causing them or making them worse. The research was performed in a model of Alzheimer's disease established in mice.

"Our study highlights the notion that manipulating the brain's immune response could be translated into clinically tolerated regimens for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases," said Pritam Das, co-author of the study, from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

Stroke Rehabilitation Technology That's Fun And Can Be Used At Home

Using tracking tasks to assess movement problems in the arm after a stroke. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Southampton)

ScienceDaily (Oct. 10, 2009) — Stroke rehabilitation technology which patients can operate in their own homes while playing computer games, is being developed by academics at the University of Southampton.

Therapists, doctors, engineers and psychologists at the University have come together to set up ARM (Assessment, Rehabilitation, Movement) – a unique initiative that is using ideas from industrial robots to help patients regain and control movement of the arm and hand after a stroke.

"We felt it was important for people to have fun while they recovered," said Professor Jane Burridge of the University of Southampton’s School of Health Sciences. "In fact we find it’s often difficult to get them to stop playing the computer games!"

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

What ideas and actions can increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people w

United We Ride -- What ideas and actions can increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes?

The Federal Interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility (CCAM) invites you to participate in the United We Ride National Dialogue. This groundbreaking, web-based interactive dialogue is designed to allow a broader range of opinions and ideas to inform future policies, the CCAM Strategic Plan and to strengthen the CCAM's relationship with is vast array of partners and stakeholders, including state, local, and tribal governments, transportation agencies, human service agencies, healthcare providers, employment specialists, educators, and consumers.

In order to capture this critical feedback, the CCAM is seeking your participation in a 2 week long, web-based dialogue. This dialogue will allow participants to submit, comment, and rate ideas on how to increase access to affordable and reliable transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and people with limited incomes.

Your invaluable participation will directly inform the work of the CCAM on future policy decisions and the Strategic Plan.

The United We Ride National Dialogue will take place from November 2-13, 2009.

To view the entire article. please click on the link above.

New Studies See a Higher Rate of Autism: Is the Jump Real?

Time (Oct. 05, 2009) -- One in a hundred American children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). That stunning new statistic was released on Monday by the Federal Government, officially revising the 2007 federal estimate of 1 in 150 children. The new number puts U.S. prevalence on par with reported rates in England, Japan, Sweden and Canada. It is based on two separate and very different government-funded research studies: a telephone survey of 78,037 parents by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and a rigorous national surveillance study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In an unusual show of attention and concern, top officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and the CDC held a press conference on Oct. 2 in which they attempted to explain the new numbers, allay concerns and assure the public that substantial government resources are being devoted to understanding autism.

"We are extremely concerned about the apparent increase in estimated prevalence of autism spectrum disorders," said Ileana Arias of the CDC. "However, we urge extreme caution in interpreting this change. An increase in diagnosis does not necessarily mean that more children actually have ASD. Unfortunately, the information that we currently have doesn't allow us to give a true account of whether the apparent increase is an actual increase or the result of changes in the way we describe and diagnose ASDs."

By Claudia Wallis

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.

SC AT Exchange - Big Ticket Items for Sale

Big Ticket Items Available NOW on the South Carolina Assistive Technology Exchange. Drastically lower than Retail!

Wheelchair accessible homes, power wheelchairs, specialty mattresses, aug com., lifts, vans.

Go to www.scatpexchange.net and check them out! You can easily become a member, sign in, and view the items needed and those that are free or for sale.

House - Wheelchair accessible $160000

Winsford Feeder $800 or Best Offer

Ceiling Track Lift $900

High Low Chair $400 or Best Offer

Jazzy Power Chair 1120 $850 or Best Offer

Jazzy Pride 1121 Power Wheelchair Best Offer

Merits P182 Power Wheelchair $3000 or Best Offer

Mini Jazzy 1103 Power Wheelchair Free

Hoyer Deluxe Lifter HPL402 $700 or Best Offer

Merius Power Wheelchair $900 or Best Offer

Jazzy 1120/2000 Power Wheelchair $1000 or Best Offer

Permobil C300 $11000 or Best Offer

Pride Jet 2 Heavy Duty Scooter $400 or Best Offer

Pride LX 12 Power Wheelchair $4000 or Best Offer

Therapy Air Mattress APM2 $770 or Best Offer

Youth caregiver operated Quickie Wheelchair Best Offer

Invacare 2005 hydraulic patient lift device $600 or Best Offer

Guldman GH2 Power patient lift device $1500 or Best Offer

Freedom Designs Libre small youth wheelchair Best Offer

Rifton Adaptive Tricycle $750 or Best Offer

Assistive Tech Mercury II Communicator $4500 or Best Offer

ERICA Eye Gaze Speech Generating Device $6800

Dodge 2500 Wheelchair Access $8500

Harmar AL500 wheelchair lift $1700 or Best Offer

1990 GMC Vandura with Crow River lift $6000 or Best Offer

2005 Toyota Sienna LE Rampvan $35000 or Best Offer

2006 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT w/Braun $29500

Wheelchair lift, vannator /2000 $800 or Best Offer

To view the SC AT Exchange website, please click on the link above.

Mechanism That Constructs Key Brain Structure Discovered

Neurons in green are over expressing a key gene that abnormally segregates them from other neurons (red and blue) within a developing column in the cerebral cortex. (Credit: Image courtesy of Yale University)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 17, 2009) — Yale University researchers have found a molecular mechanism that allows the proper mixing of neurons during the formation of columns essential for the operation of the cerebral cortex, they report in the Sept. 16 online issue of the journal Nature.

Scientists have known for years that information processing in the cerebral cortex depends upon groupings of neurons that assemble in the shape of vertical columns. If the number and mix of neurons in the column are wrong, severe cognitive problems can result. For instance, malformations of these columns have been implicated in some forms of autism and mental retardation. Scientists, however, have not been able to find the molecular mechanism responsible for this intermixing.

In the Nature paper, a team led by Pasko Rakic, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology and head of the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, describes one of the molecular mechanisms essential to the organizations of these key structures.

To view the entire article, please click on the link above.