By Katie Hardy and Henry Pollard
The stress response is a natural reaction by the body, against potentially harmful stimuli to enhance the chance for survival. Persistent activation of the stress response can cause changes to homeostatic mechanisms. The study of stress neurophysiology, in the evaluation of the manifestation of disease in the body, suggests that these chronic changes have detrimental effects on sub cortical structures. Furthermore, there is much scientific support for the notion that chronic activation of supraspinal systems will lead to maladaptation of homeostatic mechanisms, causing the impairment of processes within the body, and ultimately leading to visceral disorders. The chiropractic profession for many years has alluded to chronic change of neurophysiological pathways as a potential explanation of visceral disorders, but the profession has typically described these in terms of somatovisceral or viscerosomatic reflex activity. Change in supraspinal neurophysiological efferent activity is increasingly being used to explain "stress" related disease. The chiropractic profession should consider investigating such stress responses by conducting spinal manipulative therapy trials that evaluate supraspinal effects of manipulation. Such research may help elucidate key mechanisms associated with the change of visceral disorders noted by some chiropractors following manipulative therapy.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
This paper summarizes data from a review of neurofeedback (NFB) training with 150 clients with Asperger's Syndrome (AS) and 9 clients with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) seen over a 15 year period (1993-2008) in a clinical setting. The main objective was to investigate whether electroncephalographic (EEG) biofeedback, also called neurofeedback (NFB), made a significant difference in clients diagnosed with AS. An earlier paper (Thompson et al. 2009) reviews the symptoms of AS, highlights research findings and theories concerning this disorder, discusses QEEG patterns in AS (both single and 19-channel), and details a hypothesis, based on functional neuroanatomy, concerning how NFB, often paired with biofeedback (BFB), might produce a change in symptoms. A further aim of the current report is to provide practitioners with a detailed description of the method used to address some of the key symptoms of AS in order to encourage further research and clinical work to refine the use of NFB plus BFB in the treatment of AS.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by closely interrelated motor and sensory disorders. Two types of involuntary movement can be observed: periodic leg movements during wakefulness (PLMW) and periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS). Basal ganglia dysfunction in primary RLS has often been suggested. However, clinical observations raise the hypothesis of sensorimotor cortical involvement in RLS symptoms. Here, we explored cortical function via movement-related beta and mu rhythm reactivity.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
A year's worth of counseling and medication relieved some symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among a group children, but only children receiving additional biofeedback therapy managed to hold on to these healthy gains after going off the medication, according to a new study.
Half of the 100 children in the study received EEG biofeedback therapy, a treatment in which individuals are taught to retrain electrical activity in their brains. The biofeedback group also experienced significant changes in these "brain wave" patterns associated with attention-deficit disorder, according to Vincent J. Monastra, Ph.D., of the FPI Attention Disorders Clinic and colleagues.
"While ADHD is diagnosed on the basis of behavioral symptoms, our findings suggest that the disorder also involves neurophysiological factors," says Monastra and colleagues.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Heart rate variability, a sign of a healthy heart, has been shown to be higher in yoga practitioners than in non-practitioners, according to research to be published in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.
The autonomic nervous system regulates the heart rate through two routes - the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The former causes the heart rate to rise, while, the parasympathetic slows it. When working well together, the two ensure that the heart rate is steady but ready to respond to changes caused by eating, the fight or flight response, or arousal.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2009 Nov 13. [Epub ahead of print]
Aubert AE, Verheyden B, d'Ydewalle C, Beckers F, Van den Bergh O.
Sustained weightlessness affects all body functions, among these also cardiac autonomic control mechanisms. How this may influence neural response to central stimulation by a mental arithmetic task remains an open question. The hypothesis was tested that microgravity alters cardiovascular neural response to standardized cognitive load stimuli. Beat-to-beat heart rate, brachial blood pressure and respiratory frequency were collected in 5 astronauts, taking part in 3 different short duration (10-11 days) space missions to the International Space Station. Data recording was performed in supine position one month before launch, at day 5 or 8 in space, and on day 1, 14 and 25 days after landing. Heart rate variability parameters were obtained in the frequency domain...
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Interesting study that shows that the lines between sensory processing, emotional processing, and behavior are continuing to blur. As many parents of a child with significant sensory processing difficulties will tell you, anxiety and emotional dysregulation can be a huge part of what makes sensory processing disorders most difficult. A major reason for this, it is thought, is that sensory systems function to alert the body to danger, so that disordered sensory signals will trigger extreme danger reactions, like fear, anxiety, aggression, and escape.
Read more...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
(CBS/AP) Powerful scans are letting doctors watch just how the brain changes in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and concussion-like brain injuries - signature damage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
It's work that one day may allow far easier diagnosis for patients - civilian or military - who today struggle to get help for these largely invisible disorders. For now it brings a powerful message: Problems too often shrugged off as "just in your head" in fact do have physical signs, now that scientists are learning where and how to look for them.
"There's something different in your brain," explains Dr. Jasmeet Pannu Hayes of Boston University, who is helping to lead that research at the Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD. "Just putting a real physical marker there, saying that this is a real thing," encourages more people to seek care.
Up to one in five U.S. veterans from the long-running combat in Iraq and Afghanistan is thought to have symptoms of PTSD. An equal number are believed to have suffered traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs - most that don't involve open wounds but hidden damage caused by explosion's pressure wave.
Read full article...
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
J Pediatr Psychol. 2009 Oct;34(9):1030-9. Epub 2009 Mar 13.
Hipwell AE, Keenan K, Marsland A.
Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O'Hara St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. hipwellae@upmc.edu
OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between biological stress regulation and somatic complaints in young girls prior to the onset of clear psychopathology such as somatization disorder. METHODS: Salivary cortisol, heart rate variability (HRV), and negative mood were assessed in 48 12-year-old girls in response to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children (TSST-C). Parent and child report on the Children's Somatization Inventory was used to identify girls with high and low somatic complaints. RESULTS: Girls with high levels of somatic complaints had significantly higher initial levels of cortisol, which decreased over time, and showed a trend for a more limited HRV in response to the TSST-C than girls with low levels of somatic complaints. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of cortisol and possibly low HRV among girls with somatic complaints may interfere with flexibility in responding to typical psychosocial stressors, which may increase vulnerability to the onset of somatic illnesses in females.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19286887?dopt=Abstract
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
|
Exposure to stressful events during development has consistently been shown to produce long-lasting alterations in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which may increase vulnerability to disease, including posttraumatic stress disorder and other mood and anxiety disorders. Recently reported genetic association studies indicate that these effects may be mediated, in part, by gene×environment interactions involving polymorphisms within two key genes, CRHR1 and FKBP5. Data suggest that these genes regulate HPA axis function in conjunction with exposure to child maltreatment or abuse. In addition, a large and growing body of preclinical research suggests that increased activity of the amygdala-HPA axis induced by experimental manipulation of the amygdala mimics several of the physiological and behavioral symptoms of stress-related psychiatric illness in humans. Notably, interactions between the developing amygdala and HPA axis underlie critical periods for emotional learning, which are modulated by developmental support and maternal care. These translational findings lead to an integrated hypothesis: high levels of early life trauma lead to disease through the developmental interaction of genetic variants with neural circuits that regulate emotion, together mediating risk and resilience in adults. Depression and Anxiety Depression and Anxiety 26:984-992, 2009. Published 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
| Charles F. Gillespie, M.D. Ph.D. 1, Justine Phifer, B.A. 1, Bekh Bradley, Ph.D. 1 2, Kerry J. Ressler, M.D. Ph.D. 1 3 4 * |
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
2Atlanta Veterans Affairs Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia
3Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
4Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland
|
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122596389/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
|
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5