Brain News

Take it, use it, but don't hot-link it. Credit and link back not necessary.

From Science Daily:
 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150218101839.htm

From Science Daily: It turns out that Broca's area is more of speech and language synthesizer rather than a producer. When we speak out loud, the Broca's area shuts down. Results are from a very small sample-- seven patients with epilepsy-- and so I suspect that the study will have to be replicated on a larger scale. Still, this is intriguing to me.



Also from Science Daily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150217114430.htm

There are two pathways for visual information [not just one as previously thought]. New techniques involving M.R.I. have revealed evidence that-- especially in children-- when the primary pathway is damaged, a secondary pathway can re-route around the primary.
My special [t.b.i.] eye doc told me that "the eyeballs are the outcropping of the brain." Visual acuity is indeed separate from ocular-motor function or dysfunction.



From The Hindu:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/brain-dead-woman-saves-three-lives/article6906825.ece?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication

The organs from a brain-dead woman were harvested and saved three lives.



From Chronicle Live U.K.:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/brain-damaged-county-durham-woman-8667602

An English woman who sustained severely debilitating brain damage early on in life was awarded a huge amount of money. The money will enable her aged parents to move to a larger home [they are her primary caretakers] so that the woman can remain in the community rather than suffer institutionalization and will also ensure her well-being after their deaths.



From National Geographic [on-line]:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150217-shell-shock-ptsd-tbi-world-war-one-ied-veterans-administration-science/


A short interview involving blast-induced traumatic brain injuries being sustained by our service people. And a cool mask.



From Yahoo News:
https://news.yahoo.com/eye-tracking-tech-could-detect-concussions-football-players-150621714.html;_ylt=AwrBEiQZDeVUiDIAQVrQtDMD

I could have told the researchers this [if they had known to ask]. I have ocular-motor dysfunction caused by my t.b.i. Yeah, I do rather horribly on eye tracking tests. My eyeballs don't play nicely with my brain or with each other.



From North Jersey [dot com]:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/health-news/cyclist-sets-sites-on-bi-coastal-ride-1.1272211

A man who sustained serious head trauma approximately five years ago plans to bike across the country to raise awareness of traumatic brain injury. This is a wonderful thing! You go, Daniel Mollino!



From W.B.T.V.:
http://www.wbtv.com/story/28131593/stepfathers-abuse-conviction-sentence-upheld-by-nc-court

R.I.P. little four year old Kalih Davenport. Her step-father rammed her head into a wall, leaving her with brain damage. She has since died. 



From York Press in the U.K.:
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11799709.York_man_was_savagely_attacked_with_golf_club__rock_and_drill_then_left_for_dead_with_dozens_of_wounds__court_is_told/?ref=rss


A young woman claims during trial that after two men beat on a fellow, she went upstairs and was on Facebook. She didn't realize until later that he was bloodied up in her cupboard.
Hearty wishes go out to Adam Blythe who sustained brain damage and other injuries from the attack.


From I09:
http://io9.com/gourmand-syndrome-is-the-most-delicious-kind-of-brain-1686326418

A curious article about changing food tastes after brain damage brought on via stroke or t.b.i.


sapphoq healing traumatic brain injury

The Eyes [May] Have It

I was heartened today to see one tiny article about the possibility that visual difficulties may aid in the accurate diagnosis of traumatic brain injuries in veterans who continue having troublesome symptoms after sustaining a blast.  Psychiatrist Elaine Peskind noted that the vets she tested had irregular movements of their eyeballs.  Neuro-Optomologist Randy Kardon demonstrated that the vets exposed to blasts had retinal cells that were thinner than expected and also had developed photo-sensitivity.  [ article located here at: http://www.turnto23.com/lifestyle/health/eyes-may-provide-new-insight-into-brain-problems-including-tbi-in-soldiers ]

I've known about tbi-related eye problems because I have them.  I was diagnosed with true photophobia, ocular-motor dysfunction, and dyplopia in one eye.  The external vertigo that I experience on a daily basis [the room spins to the left] with occasional temporary upswings  is responsible for my latest back injuries which have landed me back in physical therapy.  Nystagmus, I have it now.  I did not have it pre-injury.  Misinterpretation of visual data in the brain has caused visual disturbances.  These are not frightening.  And dry eyes.  Because I no longer blink as much automatically as I used to.  Reading was not possible for me for longer than thirty minutes [and sometimes not possible after much less than thirty minutes] until the introduction of an e-reader.  It is not large print that I need.  My visual acuity is within the range of "doesn't need glasses while driving."  What I do need, and the e-reader provides for me, is more white space between words and the ability to adjust the light settings.

When hunting down the research into the use of various visual tests and measurements in the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury with our troops, the earliest reference I found was dated 2009.  This is the sort of thing that should have been reported on by the media much earlier than yesterday.  The research has implications for all of us who have sustained brain injuries from a variety of causes.

While I applaud the Veterans' Administration for the research being undertaken on behalf of soldiers who have suffered and who will continue to suffer blast injuries, it is my sincere hope that refinements to the diagnosis of a t.b.i. and delivery of services designed to address tbi-related visual difficulties does not become bogged down in the usual bureaucratic paperwork and a system which seeks to deny our vets services when at all possible.

sapphoq healing t.b.i.


Other references:

http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/09/46/6/pdf/cockerham.pdf

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/05/neurologist-markam-human-brain/

http://www.army.mil/article/74675/

http://www.lowvision.org/traumatic_brain_injury.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20104404

http://www.brainline.org/content/2010/02/vision-issues-after-brain-injury-brainline-talks-with-dr-gregory-goodrich_pageall.html

Three Dimensional Fun

The picture is of an open floor plan house that I created on Trimble© Sketch-Up.  I have the free version which Google© popularized.  You can find more of what I've been playing with at the 3-D Warehouse© .  My collection is called "do as you will."

Since my motor vehicle accident and resultant traumatic brain injury, I have all kinds of perception and ocular motor
problems.  These difficulties are not a result of any deficiency in my visual acuity.  [Visual Acuity is measured by the Snellen Eye Chart, how clearly one can see and results in a measurement of a/b e.g. 20/20, 20/30...  My visual acuity is very good.  I don't need glasses to drive].  But my eyes don't play nicely together or with my brain.  Consequently, I live with double vision and photophobia.  Almost nine years after my brain damage, I continue to work at cognitive exercises and puzzles daily.  One of the things I've started to play with is the free version of Trimble© Sketch-Up. 

Since around the middle of August, I have been creating three dimensional models of shapes, houses, other buildings, furniture (mainly coffee tables), and a few other random things almost daily.  And I've gotten better at it.  There are free videos available but I've found that I am better off experimenting with the toolbar myself and only resorting to watching part of a video if I get stuck on something that I am attempting.  I like making the models and found it a natural progression from making e-stationary and textures.  [Note: the textures on my house above are all included with the free version of Sketch-Up.  So they aren't textures that I've created].

I've found creating a ball to be more difficult than making any of the models in this sample of things I've done.  And creating 3D shapes (-- other than the rectangle-- rendering a successful model of a four sided di took me several hours) was harder for me to learn than how to chauffer edges.  (The surface of this kitchen table is chauffered, using a tool called "Follow Me).

 

 

 

 

I like challenging myself to learn new things, even stuff that forces my eyes and brain to work together.  And forcing myself to use my damaged brain to think in new or unfamiliar ways is a definite win.

sapphoq on healing t.b.i.

Working on my Visual Perception Problems

My traumatic brain injury left me with some rather outstanding perception problems.  Because I have diagnosed permanent double vision in one eye, I have been treated to the sight of folks with two heads, four arms, and two torsos which extend into one set of hips and two legs casually jogging in my neighborhood.  Because I have been diagnosed with ocular-motor dysfunction and a visual accommodation disorder, objects and people appear as having ghost lines around them, especially when fatigued and my brain is too tired to block those ghost lines.  (And let's not forget the photophobia which is responsible for me limiting my driving at night to "only local and only when not tired."  And my fatigue from dealing with all of this which led me recently to switch to an e-reader which is set to make reading easier for me).  


I know that first paragraph sounds like I am whining.  But really, I am not whining.  I want to tell you about Google Sketch-Up®.  Sketch-Up® is a three-d modeling program that is available at http://sketchup.google.com/download/ as freeware.  [If someone is a professional and wants more bells and whistles, they can buy a professional version from Trimble].  I like three dimensional stuffs and I also like animation.  I've been endeavoring for some time to use DAS®, Bryce®, Blender®, and Hexagon II® and I've had no success to speak of.  [Those four programs were all available as free legal downloads a couple of months ago from their company's website.  I believe the special offer may have ended.  At any rate, I got in on it the very last day].  Those programs were too hard for me to learn at the present time.  One night I happened upon Sketch-Up® and promptly downloaded the free version.  

In short order, I found that I was able to produce rectangles, circles and 3d text.  [If you want to see a few of the things I've made, google "warehouse lovemakesafamily" to find some examples that I've uploaded to Google Warehouse®].  After watching a few free tutorial videos,  I went on to make several skyboxes, some other shapes, and a box with a chaffeured lid.  As I continue to work with my digital camera and computer art, building in Second Life®, and Google Sketch-Up® I've noted some improvement in the way that my eyes work together when I practice  my vision therapy exercises.  This improvement I must still label as "subjective" since it has yet to be confirmed by my t.b.i. eye doc. 

Sorry to the dedicated optimists who want me to say that my vision problems are totally abated, cured, or not permanent after all.  It simply ain't so.  I have to deal with my situation as it is and not engage in dreams of being "almost or exactly 100%" of who I was before my accident.  I am very fortunate to be alive.  I would have been better off-- certainly financially and in some other ways as well-- had the motor vehicle accident not happened.  But things are what they are.  I continue to deal with Briella [my still brilliant brain, just a bit sideways] on a daily basis.  When I think back to how far I've come from the early days of sleeping twenty-two hours every twenty-four, relearning on the computer how to write a complete and organized sentence, playing Tetris® because other T.B.I.ers told me it would "help" with my eye-hand coordination, and myriad discussions about the names of the seven dwarves, I smile broadly and say to myself, "Yup I done good.  Now I gotta keep striving."

sapphoq healing t.b.i.

OF ALTARS 2/14/07

My first teacher taught me to use my brain as the ultimate tool.
In fact, I knew nothing of casting circles-- I had learned how to
go on those soul voyages in dreaming, the care and feeding of
gris-gris bags, and rudimentary protection skills using bath salts.
[Conjure bags filled with common kitchen herbs and stones, and
bath salts were the only things she allowed me along with a tarot
deck. Since I didn't know about other tools or altars, I didn't mind].
I had no official altar for many years.

My first physical altar was a piece of wood onto which I had
used magic markers to designate the four directions and had
also inscribed some astrological symbols on.
I had run into a description of how to set up an altar and that was
my result. I kept it in the bathroom and laid it over the sink when
I wanted to use it to light candles or burn incense for specific
things I perceived I needed or wanted.

In this house, I have a circle altar where I do circle work, a moon
altar, an ancestors' altar all in one room which is warded. Also
a mini-shrine to Yemayah in the bathroom. Rocks all over the
house. [I love rocks.] A room of frogs which I also consider
to be sacred space [though not exactly what the authors of
all those books I got had in mind]. And a "witch tree"
with stones around it in the backyard. And gris-gris in my car.

After my car accident and traumatic brain injury, there was very
little I could do. I spent a couple of months sleeping twenty hours
a day. During that time, any spiritual work I did was basic. I found
a fondness for classical music and insisted that the radio station
playing it be left on all night long. I envisioned Kwan-Yin helping
me to heal up when I was laid up. I renewed my acquaintance
with the blessed darkness and shadows. What I didn't know then
was that I was experiencing photophobia from the brain injury
itself. What I did know was that the sunlight outside the window
was too bright.

As my healing progressed, I became gradually able to return to
a bit of circle work while vertical. And now I can once again enjoy
my surroundings. I no longer curse the sunlight daily. [I got prism
lenses/prescription sunglasses]. Today I still retain that sense
of my surroundings being my altar. My brain remains the
only tool I truly need.

sapphoq healing tbi