Meditation on Demand

From Scientific American Mind

November/December 2009

(ScientificAmerican.com/Mind)

Meditation on Demand

New research reveals the cell mechanisms underlying a meditative state.

By Peter B. Reiner

∂∂∂∂∂

FAST FACTS

Rhythm of Serenity

1» Regular deep meditation changes the brain in positive ways. this type of meditation seems to be associated with gamma waves, electromagnetic rhythm of neurons firing very rapidly in harmony.

2» Neuroscientists have pinpointed the cells responsible for producing these gamma rhythms and demonstrated a technology that can induce the brain-wave pattern in mice.

3» In the future it might be possible to use this technology to reproduce some of the beneficial effects of meditation.

∂∂∂∂∂

In the fall of 2005, the Dalai Lama gave the inaugural Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society lecture at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington, DC. There were over 30,000 neuroscientists registered for the meeting, and it seemed as if most of them attended the talk. The Dalai Lama’s address was designed to highlight the areas of convergence between neuroscience and Buddhist thought about the mind, and to many in the audience he clearly achieved his objective. There was some controversy over his being invited to deliver this lecture insofar as he is both a head of state and a religious leader, and for that reason he largely stuck to his prepared text. But he strayed from the text at least once, reminding the audience that not only was he a Buddhist monk but also an enthusiastic proponent of modern technology.

Continued...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=meditation-on-demand

#

Brain Trauma in the N.F.L.

________________________

Thank you, Cindy Shaw,

for sharing this article with us.

_________________________

From the New York Times

SPORTS / PRO FOOTBALL | October 28, 2009

Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who is battling terminal illness, wants to speak out on brain trauma in the N.F.L.

Ex-N.F.L. Executive Sounds Alarm on Head Injuries

By Alan Schwarz

TAMPA, Fla. — As the president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the daughter of their owner, Gay Culverhouse was the woman in the men’s locker room. Twenty years later, she is trying to keep her former players out of the emergency room.

Sitting at a restaurant here Friday, she reconnected with a few Buccaneers retirees. There was Richard Wood, the fearsome linebacker known as Batman whose searing migraines and tendency to get lost while driving near his home leave him scared for his future. Across the table was Scot Brantley, an even harder hitter through the 1980s whose short-term memory is gone. Then there was Brandi Winans, former wife of Buccaneers lineman Jeff Winans, who slipped into such inexplicable depression, fogginess and fury several years ago that their marriage splintered.

Culverhouse looked at disability forms, listened to stories, offered counsel and expressed regret. She has done the same via telephone for another half-dozen former Buccaneers in their 40s or 50s who have increasing cognitive problems. Having followed story after story detailing how National Football League retirees are experiencing various forms of dementia at several times the national rate, and listening to the league and its doctors cast doubt that football played any role in their problems, she has emerged after 15 years to reconnect with players and sound an alarm.

She will testify before the House Judiciary Committee at its hearing on football brain injuries on Wednesday to, as she put it, “tell the truth about what’s going on while I still have the chance.”

Culverhouse has blood cancer and renal failure and has been told she has six months to live.

“I’ve got to see that someone stops this debacle before it gets any worse,” said Culverhouse, 62, the daughter of the former owner Hugh Culverhouse who held various executive positions from 1985 to 1994. “I watched our team do anything it could to get players back on the field. We have to make that right.”

Article continues.

#

Cell phone risks

____________________________

Thank you, Diane Whitney,

for sharing this article with us.

____________________________

From UPI.com

Health News

Study: Long-time cell phone users at risk

Published: Oct. 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM

LONDON, Oct. 24 (UPI)

Long-term cell phone users face a higher risk of developing brain tumors later in life, researchers in Britain warn.

The risks were identified in a landmark decade-long study by the World Health Organization, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

The study, which surveyed the cell phone habits of 12,8000 people in 13 countries, found a "significantly increased risk" of brain tumors among people who had used cell phones for 10 years or longer, Elisabeth Cardis, the head of the study told the Telegraph.

Cell phone use by children should be restricted, Cardis said, adding she does not advocate banning cell phones for children because of their importance in emergencies and in maintaining contact with parents.

Adults should moderate their use and reduce direct contact with the phone via wireless ear devices, headsets and other hands-free kits, authorities said.

A representative of the Mobile Operators Association said more than 30 other scientific surveys found no adverse health effects from cell phone use.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

#

Keep Brain Function At Its Peak

————————————————————

Thank you, Diane Whitney,

for sharing this article with us.

————————————————————

From Mercola.com

This ONE Action Keeps Brain Function at its Peak...

Your mother probably told you eating your vegetables would make you smarter. Here’s why she was right.

Researchers have found that individuals with a high daily intake of vegetables and fruits also demonstrate higher cognitive performance. Please notice that vegetables are mentioned first because they are FAR more important than fruits.

Subjects with a high intake (about 400 grams per day) of fruits and vegetables had higher antioxidant levels, lower indicators of free radical-induced damage, and better cognitive performance.

The findings were independent of age, gender, body mass index, and level of education. Further studies are planned that will include larger subject cohorts, patients with Alzheimer's disease, and patients with mild cognitive impairment.

—

To read "Dr. Mercola's Comments": Click here.

#

NeuroBehavioral Programs — John E. Leonard, Ph.D.

Dr. John Leonard, a local

psychologist and neurobehavioral

practitioner in Davis, says

he can help patients get

"conscious control" over their

nervous systems.

ARTICLE»

From the Sacramento News & Review (SN&R); Thursday, September 24, 2009; pages 24-25:

Your brain, the doctor:

Can you instruct your nervous system not to cause you pain?

By Matt Perry

Dr. John Leonard claims

it's possible to erase or

"burn out" highly charged

emotions associated

with pain — both physical

and emotional — that

seem hard-wired into

the body and mind.

•

My index finger lifts into the air. I’m not lifting it, but up it goes.

Dr. John Leonard smiles knowingly. He’s just trained my brain to automatically lift my left index finger when he says “yes” in a mellow, lugubrious tone.

It’s not voodoo or hypnosis, says Leonard in his Sacramento office, but part of a simple, straightforward mind-body system for communicating with the brain. Once that connection is made, Leonard promises, “You get conscious control over your nervous system,” and can tell the body what to think and feel.

Leonard trains my index finger for “yes” and my left pinkie for “no,” with my middle finger being a “working on it” option. The psychiatrist and developer of NeuroBehavioral Programs then checks my stress level and walks me through a sampling of the techniques he claims can reduce physical pain and stress, and also enhance general enjoyment.

It’s surprisingly easy, and has only three steps. He’s already done the first by training my fingers to say yes and no. Next, he asks me, “When you’re ready to reduce your stress to zero, will your body indicate yes?” My brain sifts through the question and, quite unbidden by me, I can feel my index finger lift slightly: yes. My body is telling me that I’m ready to get de-stressed.

Then the third, more difficult command: “I want my stress to reduce to zero.”

. . . .

ARTICLE CONTINUES»

Your brain, the doctor:

Can you instruct your nervous system not to cause you pain?

#

Emergent science of neurogenesis

ARTICLE»

From the Sacramento News & Review (SN&R); Thursday, September 24, 2009; pages 22-29:

Are you tired of your stupid, good for nothing brain?

By Matt Perry

The emergent science of neurogenesis has produced a

vibrant industry—in Sacramento and beyond—that claims

it can help you think faster, cope better, remember more.

You’ve had it. You’re sick and tired of your stupid brain. It’s cranky and dull. It can’t concentrate, it’s lethargic and it makes horrible decisions. It’s basically a no good cheatin’ brain.

So you’ve decided to fire off a Dear Brain letter: This relationship is over!

But your brain has a message for you: I can change. Really, I can change.

And your brain is right.

The burgeoning science of neurogenesis—that new neural networks can be created to keep brains fresh and alive—has produced a vibrant industry in brain games, brain gyms, designer chemicals, supplements, herbs, diets and every imaginable device to help us think faster, cope better and delay age-related illness. For millions of Americans pressured by overwork, stress and “monkey mind,” the promise of a newer, sharper brain is neurological nirvana.

This cutting-edge brain exploration is a little like settling the Wild West. “We’ve learned more in, say, the last decade than the entire history of the world,” says Leo Chalupa, formerly a neurobiologist for the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. “But where we are right now in terms of understanding how the brain works … is probably where the Wright brothers were in aviation.”

Look no further for intrepid brain explorers than the Sacramento area. Our region is home to several mainstream neurological research facilities and treatment centers, as well as some intriguing alternative practitioners who use diet, exercise and a brainy riff on cognitive therapy to help patients tune up their battered brains. A bit further down the road in San Francisco, we find a leading brain-training software company along with the country’s first “brain gym,” where members pound keyboards instead of weights in hopes of bulking up memory, concentration and visual skills.

. . . .

ARTICLE CONTINUES»

Are you tired of your stupid, good for nothing brain?

#

Report on Mobile Phone Radiation and Brain Damage

Greetings, Yes-brainers,

This posting features the article

"Approaching Epidemic: Brain Damage from Mobile Phone Radiation,"

currently online at Mercola.com, a natural health information and health newsletter published by Dr. Joseph Mercola.

We have Diane Whitney to thank for the link.

The article opens as follows:

A collaborative team of international EMF activists has released a report detailing eleven design flaws of the 13-country, Telecom-funded Interphone study.

The exposé discusses research on cell phones and brain tumors, concluding that:

• There is a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use
• Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors
• Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors

The Interphone study, begun in 1999, was intended to determine the risks of brain tumors, but its full publication has been held up for years. Components of this study published to date reveal what the authors call a ‘systemic-skew’, greatly underestimating brain tumor risk.

To read the complete article, click on the title:

Approaching Epidemic: Brain Damage from Mobile Phone Radiation

Posted by: Dr. Mercola, September 03 2009

Thanks again, Diane.

John

#