The colors in this image indicate the brain regions that were activated more by pictures of houses than other categories (such as faces, body parts, tools, or abstract patterns). Yellow indicates stronger activation than red. The dashed line shows the plane of the virtual brain slice on the right-hand side. Note: The patients brain is viewed from below so that the right hemisphere of his brain appears on the left side of the image. (Mgevand et.al.) Dr. Pierre Mgevand was in the middle of a somewhat-routine epilepsy test when his patient, a 22-year old man, said Mgevand and his medical team looked like they had transformed into Italians working at a pizzeria aprons and all. It wasnt long, the patient said, before the doctors morphed back into their exam room and business-casual attire. But that fleeting hallucination accompanied by earlier visions of houses, a familiar train station and the street where the patient grew up helped verify that a certain spot, in a certain fold in the brain, is a crucial node in the brains process of recognizing places. In the 1950s, the Canadian neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield made a set of remarkable observations in the course of operating on epilepsy … Continue reading →

Contact Information Available for logged-in reporters only Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. Gregory Barnes, M.D., Ph.D., is the inaugural permanent director of the University of Louisville Autism Center. Barnes comes to UofL from Vanderbilt University. Barnes also will hold the Spafford Ackerly Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and faculty positions in the departments of Neurology and Pediatrics. Dr. Barnes is a national leader in providing care for people who are affected by autism, said David L. Dunn, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president for health affairs at UofL. His emphasis on evidence-based treatment, teamed with his research into potential genetic influences into the development of the disorder, as well as the potential influence in epilepsy, make him a perfect fit for our program. In 2008, Barnes was appointed national neurology co-leader for the Autism Treatment Network. In 2012 he was appointed to the external scientific advisory committee for the Preclinical Autism Consortium for Therapeutics (PACT). He also has served as a reviewer for the Autism Speaks special grant program for preclinical translational research and the Autism Speaks translational postdoctoral fellowship grant program. Barnes, who will hold the academic title of associate professor of neurology and pediatrics, has held academic appointments at Washington … Continue reading →

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (April 15, 2014) A West Michigan family is reaching out to FOX 17 after hitting dead ends in the search for treatment for their son with autism. April is Autism Awareness Month, and according to the CDC, one in 68 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Patti Skinner says shes tried everything, and hopes to be a voice for a problem she says many families are facing. Her 12-year-old son Benjamynn has autism and has been violently aggressive since age four. Hes hitting, kicking, biting swearing, punching windows, punching walls, kicking doors, Patti said. She says its harder to deal with Ben as he gets older because hes getting bigger and stronger. Patti says hes been hospitalized, theyve called police, doctors and treatment facilities with no solutions for long-term help. Its very difficult because I love him to death but I dont know how to help him, she said. Scott Schrum with Residential Opportunities Incorporated says the Skinners arent alone. We are seeing and hearing those stories every week from a different family from across the state, Schrum said. Here is the original post: I Love Him to Death But I Dont … Continue reading →

The number of children with autism who are being hospitalized often due to mental health concerns is on the rise, particularly among teens with the developmental disorder, new research suggests. In a study looking at data on over 2 million hospitalizations of California children ages 1 to 18, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that between 1999 and 2009, inpatient treatment related to autism nearly tripled. The rise came as the number of hospitalizations related to other developmental disabilities including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and intellectual disability remained largely steady, according to findings published in the May issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. While the risk of hospitalization rose for kids with autism across all age groups, researchers found that the increase was most pronounced for those older than 11. Once children reached the ages of 15 to 18, individuals with autism were three-and-a-half times more likely than their peers without the developmental disorder to be hospitalized, the study found. In all but the youngest children studied, mental health diagnoses were the most common reason those with autism were treated. Its unclear what precisely is driving the growth in hospitalizations, but researchers said that … Continue reading →

Jacksonville, Fla. (PRWEB) April 16, 2014 Pediatric Behavioral Services (PBS) is now utilizing Skills, a web-based tool, to assess its clients strengths and weaknesses, design individualized and comprehensive treatment plans, and track progress. PBS, headquartered in Jacksonville, treats children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities and is gradually introducing Skills with each of its clients. PBS provides center-based and home-based behavior analytic services to children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities in and around Jacksonville and Orange Park. It specializes in treating ASD and drives treatment using the principles of ABA therapy. PBSs goal with the implementation of Skills is to provide the highest quality of care possible while helping its clients reach their greatest potential. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in every 68 children in the United States is diagnosed with ASD. Moreover, in the study Symptom Severity and Challenging Behavior in Children with ASD, published in the November 2010 journal Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 94 percent of the children with ASD who participated in the study exhibited some form of challenging behavior. These behaviors include repeated and unusual vocalizations, aggression towards others, property destruction, leaving the supervision … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 15-Apr-2014 Contact: Susan Sperry ssperry1@jhu.edu 410-955-6919 Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health In a study of nearly 1,000 mother-child pairs, researchers from the Bloomberg School of Public health found that prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a frequently prescribed treatment for depression, anxiety and other disorders, was associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and developmental delays (DD) in boys. The study, published in the online edition of Pediatrics, analyzed data from large samples of ASD and DD cases, and population-based controls, where a uniform protocol was implemented to confirm ASD and DD diagnoses by trained clinicians using validated standardized instruments. The study included 966 mother-child pairs from the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study, a population-based case-control study based at the University of California at Davis' MIND Institute. The researchers broke the data into three groups: Those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), those with developmental delays (DD) and those with typical development (TD). The children ranged in ages two to five. A majority of the children were boys 82.5% in the ASD group were boys, 65.6% in the DD group were boys and 85.6% in the TD were … Continue reading →

Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn has been recognized for excellence in the treatment of stroke patients by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, according to a press release from the hospital. Christ Medical Center has one of the largest stroke programs in the state of Illinois and is designated a primary stroke center by DNV Healthcare, which works with national health care authorities and health care providers around the world to effectively manage risk and improve health care delivery, according to its website. The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association has selected the medical center and its Neurosciences Institute for another Stroke Gold Quality Achievement Award in recognition of the institutions ongoing commitment to evidence-based stroke-care guidelines under the AHA/ASA Get With The Guidelines program, according to Dr. Melvin Wichter, co-director of the Neurosciences Institute and chair of the medical centers neurology department. Get With The Guidelines provides the most up-to-date, research-based care standards to speed recovery and reduce death and disability among stroke patients, the release said. To earn the award, the Christ Medical Center stroke team had to meet specific, quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 15-Apr-2014 Contact: Kath Paddison kath.paddison@manchester.ac.uk 44-016-127-52111 University of Manchester Infection is bad news for all of us - but it can be really serious to people who have had a stroke. Evidence is mounting that infection makes things much worse after a stroke. A team of scientists at the University of Manchester has now found a key to why and how infection is such a bad thing for stroke sufferers In the research published today in the medical journal Annals of Neurology, the researchers show that rodents with pneumonia fared worse after having a stroke than those without the bacterial infection. When people get an infection their natural defences - the immune system - kicks in and produces responses to try to remove the infectious agent. This allows the body to return to normal. But the body's own natural defences can also be harmful. This study showed how infection worsens the damage caused by a stroke, but more importantly showed how. The researchers identified particular blood cells called platelets, which normally help to stop bleeding, and a molecule that normally helps people to fight infection as the key culprits in making the effects of a stroke even … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 15-Apr-2014 Contact: Amy Hewko ahewko@ualberta.ca 780-492-0647 University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry A new study from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry is looking at nurse- and pharmacist-led interventions to improve the standard of care for patients who have suffered minor stroke or transient ischemic attack, also known as "mini stoke." "What we were finding was that six months or 12 months after their stroke, a lot of patients still had uncontrolled blood pressure and uncontrolled cholesterol," said Finlay McAlister (MD '90), lead author of the study. "[This factor] puts the patients at an increased risk of recurrent events, including strokes, heart attacks, amputation from peripheral vascular disease and death." In order to improve the outcomes of these patients, McAlister and his group studied 279 individuals who had recovered well or fully after a stroke or mini stroke and were included in either nurse- or pharmacist-led interventions to improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Following an initial assessment at one of the three stroke prevention clinics in Edmonton, each patient had one appointment each month for six months with a nurse or pharmacist. Compared to statistics under the current standard of care, nurse-led care saw … Continue reading →

Article updated: 4/15/2014 4:56 PM U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk QUINCY, Ill. -- U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk has toured the stroke center at a hospital in Quincy in western Illinois. Kirk suffered a stroke more than two years ago. The Quincy Herald-Whig reported that the senator visited Blessing Hospital on Monday, spending most of his time touring the stroke center and rehabilitation unit. The Highland Park Republican says he wants to make sure people in Quincy "have outstanding stroke care." He also says he wants to make sure they don't delay treatment when they experience symptoms of a stroke. The senator says it's "like life and death to a lot of people." Kirk urged patients not to give up if they face tough rehabilitation. Blessing Hospital Administrative Director Connie Scott told Kirk the hospital is certified as a primary stroke center. Excerpt from: Kirk learns about Quincy stroke center … Continue reading →