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Nerd Nite #54: Brain Fog from Brain Sickness
People get sick all the time, and sometimes it happens with the WORST timing. Maybe you’re supposed to take a big exam, attend an important meeting, leave for a business trip, or even take a vacation, but now all you can think about is how sick you are.
What happens to our memory capability when this happens? Is this going to prevent us from being able to learn the new information being presented at the meeting? Is it going to prevent us from recalling the definition of that big term you learned about last week?
Importantly, does this affect males and females differently? Caitlin’s research tries to figure out some possible answers to these questions using a viral mimic in male and female mice during different types of learning and memory tasks. If we can figure out how getting sick disrupts our capacity to learn and remember, maybe we can gain some insight as to how neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s Disease or psychological disorders like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder cause debilitating memory impairments, and ideally, how we might be able to fix them.
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Uninhibited Imaginations: Creativity and Hyperfocus in ADHD
ADHD is a common neuropsychological disorder marked by inattentiveness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. ADHD may contribute to functional impairment in academic, vocational, and social situations. At the same time, the attentional dysregulation associated with ADHD may have some positive consequences.
In this talk, Dr. Shah presents data suggesting that one of these benefits may be exceptional creativity. Specifically, individuals with ADHD exhibit enhanced "divergent" thinking, and this thinking style is associated with greater creative achievement in some domains. She also discusses data suggesting that individuals with ADHD, when motivated, may actually show periods of intense focus (often dubbed hyperfocus); this intense focus can have benefits (e.g., for the creative process) and costs (e.g., procrastination), and she briefly describes ongoing research on attention interventions for ADHD children. Finally, Dr. Shah speculates on clinical and academic implications of this research.
Dr. Priti Shah is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan in cognition and cognitive neuroscience and educational psychology. She completed her Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University and her undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She studies how students learn and limitations in student learning. Current projects include studies of improving scientific reasoning in middle school children, correcting false beliefs about science, the impact of math anxiety on math learning, and improving attention and motivation in children with ADHD. Dr. Shah has edited three books and published over 60 articles and book chapters. She has received funding from numerous federal agencies and foundations such as the Institute for Educational Sciences, the National Institute of Aging, the National Science Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. She is an avid reader and the mother of two children, one in college and one in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
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"How Should a Body Be?" Author Discussion with Bethany Meloche
Writer and motivational speaker Bethany Meloche brings her inspirational, funny, and relatable brand of storytelling to her memoir, How Should a Body Be?, a coming-of-age story about growing up in Michigan and uncovering a horrible new truth in an old family secret.
At age twelve, Bethany discovers the reason her grandmother wears leg braces—and it has something to do with how Bethany herself has started tripping, falling, and losing her grasp on objects. The cause? Charcot-Marie-Tooth, an inherited genetic disorder that torpedoed her once-idyllic childhood.
Now a world traveler and chronic adventurer, Bethany shares in this presentation that life’s most valuable lessons can be learned in the simplest of things: buying a slice of pizza, going on a first date, or crossing a busy street. Teens and grandparents all relate to Bethany’s sense of humor and brutal honesty. Her stories are about living, really living, with exactly what we are given—no more, no less.
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Re-imagining Mental Health Services for American Indian Communities: Centering Indigenous Perspectives
The indigenous peoples of North America are heirs to the shattering legacy of European colonization. These brutal histories of land dispossession, military conquest, forced settlement, religious repression, and coercive assimilation have robbed American Indian communities of their economies, life ways, and sources of meaning and significance in the world. The predictable consequence has been an epidemic of “mental health” problems such as demoralization, substance abuse, violence, and suicide. This presentation reviews the implicit logics that structure mental health service delivery as well as key ethno-psychological commitments of many American Indian communities in an effort to re-imagine counseling services in a manner that truly centers indigenous perspectives.
Joseph P. Gone is Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan. His interdisciplinary scholarship explores the sociocultural foundations of healthy and disordered psychological experience on one hand, and the normative and prescriptive activities of mental health professionals on the other hand. His current projects are dedicated to integrating indigenous healing practices into clinical mental health settings that serve Native American people.
This program is part of the "Exploring the Mind" series and is a partnership with The University of Michigan Department of Psychology.
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Resilience to Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer’s disease is a leading cause of disability and death. New technologies are enabling scientists to study this disease as never before possible, but a curative “Alzheimer’s pill” remains out of reach. A recent report by an expert commission concluded that one third of Alzheimer’s cases are preventable, highlighting promising research on the role of modifiable lifestyle factors.
Dr. Laura Zahodne, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan, discusses multiple pathways to building resilience to Alzheimer’s disease through individual and social changes.
Dr. Zahodne is a licensed psychologist with clinical expertise in the assessment of dementia, and has received early career awards from the American Psychological Association and the American Neuropsychiatric Association for her research, which focuses on risk and protective factors for Alzheimer’s disease in diverse populations. She is particularly interested in how psychosocial factors modify the Alzheimer’s disease pathogenic pathway, from brain structure to cognitive performance, and she holds multiple grants from the National Institute on Aging to fund her community-based research efforts.
This program is part of the "Exploring the Mind" series and is a partnership with The University of Michigan Department of Psychology.
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Bright Nights Community Forum: Self-Compassion as a Resilience Factor in Mental Health
A fast-growing body of research suggests that self-compassion is strongly linked to mental health. Self-compassion has been consistently associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety, perfectionism, fear of failure, and rumination. Self-compassion is also associated with psychological strengths such as happiness, optimism, wisdom, altruism, and healthy interpersonal relationships. Further, self-compassion has been shown to lead to self-improvement motivation in the face of personal weaknesses, failure, and past moral transgressions. Self-compassion is associated with resilience and adaptive emotion regulation in the general population, and in specific populations, including major depressive disorder, adolescents and young adults, elderly residents in a retirement community, adults with spina bifida, and health care providers. Fortunately, interventions to increase self-compassion have been shown to be effective in both normal and clinical populations.
Self-compassion consists of three components: mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. Mindfulness refers to the ability to observe one’s suffering so that one can be can be kind and supportive of oneself, rather than being harshly self-critical. Common humanity promotes the understanding that all human beings are imperfect, and that failure, rejection and adversity in life are part of being human.
Ricks Warren, PhD, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, leads a discussion on how mental health can be improved through self-compassion and strategies for building self-compassion with a panel of experts including Kate Baker, MD, Clinical Instructor, U-M Department of Psychiatry; Paulette Grotrian, MA, Mindful Self-Compassion and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher; Mika Handelman, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan Psychological Clinic.
This event is a partnership with the U-M Depression Center. For more information on the Center, visit their website or contact Stephanie Salazar, 232-0330, or sawaters@umich.edu
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Breaking the Stress Cycle from Childhood to Adulthood
The U.S. is experiencing a widespread and growing stress epidemic. Stress related disorders and diseases have been on the rise for decades according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. National surveys that assess how stressed and anxious we feel show a very similar pattern. And it shows up in our bodies, even before we get sick: the “physiological stress load” that tracks key biological markers shows similar increases, and is getting worse as each new age group enters adulthood. More children and youth may also be experiencing greater stress dysregulation and difficulties in coping, owing to the lifelong impact of early life adversity that is tied biologically and psychologically to this epidemic.
Dr. Daniel P. Keating discusses research that shows how we can break this cycle, both for individuals and families at every stage of development, and for society more generally.
Dr. Keating is currently Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Pediatrics, and Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. His current research focuses on the impact of early life adversity on child and youth development, and on the neuro developmental pathways in adolescent risk behavior. His most recent book is Born Anxious: The Lifelong Impact of Early Life Adversity – and How to Break the Cycle.
This program was part of the "Exploring the Mind" series, in partnership with The University of Michigan Department of Psychology.
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Howard Markel Discusses His Book: "The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek"
University of Michigan Professor Howard Markel, medical historian, and author, discusses his critically-acclaimed new book The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek as well as John and Will Kellogg, brothers whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America’s notion of health and wellness.
John Harvey Kellogg was one of America’s most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast.
Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D. is the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, and editor in chief of The Milbank Quarterly. His books include "Quarantine!: East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892," When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed, and An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Markel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Bright Nights Community Forum: Borderline Personality Disorder, Debunking Myths, and Improving Hope
Victor Hong, MD, Clinical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan gives a brief presentation on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and its management, followed by a panel discussion.
BPD is a serious mental illness, but one that is sometimes not well understood by patients and families, clinicians, and society as a whole. It is perhaps the most stigmatized disorder in all of medicine, which creates confusion, poor outcomes, and a sense of hopelessness for everyone involved.
BPD affects an estimated 18 million Americans during their lifetimes and causes numerous stressful symptoms, including unstable mood, suicidal and self-harm thoughts and behaviors, and chaotic relationships. While the disorder causes great distress, treatment varies widely and research is lacking.
Recent research indicates that the prognosis for those with BPD is much better than previously thought, and existing and emerging treatments have demonstrated significant efficacy. The role of medications in those treatments has been further elucidated, the role of families has been made clear, and a better understanding of how to manage safety concerns has developed
This event is a partnership with the University of Michigan Depression Center. For more information about the Depression Center, visit depressioncenter.org or contact Stephanie Salazar, 232-0330, or sawaters@umich.edu.
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Vietnam Vet Tim Keenan Discusses His Journey On The Appalachian Trail and His Book "The Good Hike"
In 1967, Tim Keenan grew to loathe the impenetrable jungle of Vietnam during his one-year tour of duty as a combat soldier. For the 47 years following, he couldn’t shake his dread of the woods, until he confronted his fears head-on and began a hike of the 2,178.3-mile Appalachian Trail.
The Good Hike is Keenan’s story of finally coming to peace with himself, buoyed by the healing powers of nature and his fellow hikers. His story weaves in the beautiful towns and mountains of the great Appalachian Trail with his experiences in the jungle and battle zones around Dak To, including the infamous Hill 1338.