I came across this interesting article
Colizoli O, Murre JM, and Rouw R (2012). Pseudo-Synesthesia through Reading Books with Colored Letters. PloS one, 7 (6) PMID: 22761905
posted at http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2012/07/can-you-learn-to-be-synaesthetic.html
I agree with the blogger and some real syn-esthetics who commented that it really has little to do with synesthesia, and more with mnemotechnic. I wonder if it could be used to learn Chinese characters.
Please view the video of my presentation with Donald F. Klein, MD, “Panic, Separation Anxiety and Endogenous Opiods” hosted by the Arnold Pfeffer Center Neuro-Psychoanalysis at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.
Pain. 2012 Feb 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Pain affect in the absence of pain sensation: evidence of asomaesthesia after somatosensory cortex lesions in the rat.
Uhelski ML, Davis MA, Fuchs PN.
Source
Department of Diagnostic and Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Abstract
Multidimensional models of pain processing distinguish the sensory, motivational, and affective components of the pain experience. Efforts to understand underlying mechanisms have focused on isolating the roles of specific brain structures, including both limbic and non-limbic cortical areas, in the processing of nociceptive stimuli. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the somatosensory cortex in both sensory and affective aspects of pain processing. It was hypothesized that animals with lesions of the hind limb area of the somatosensory cortex would demonstrate altered sensory processing (asomaesthesia, a deficit in the ability to detect and identify somatic sensation) in the presence of an inflammatory state when compared to animals with sham lesions. The level of pain affect produced by an inflammatory pain condition was not expected to change, as this region has not demonstrated a role in processing the affective component of pain. Seventy-nine adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive bilateral lesions or a sham procedure. The results showed that somatosensory lesions to the hindlimb region altered responses to mechanical stimulation in the presence of experimentally-induced inflammation, but did not attenuate the inflammation-induced paw volume changes or the level of pain affect, as demonstrated by escape/avoidance behavior in response to mechanical stimulation. Overall, these results support previous evidence suggesting that the somatosensory cortex is primarily involved in the processing the sensory/discriminative aspect of pain, and the current study is the first to demonstrate the presence of pain affect in the absence of somatosensory processing.
Copyright © 2012 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PMID:
22365310
[PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Ann Neurol. 2011 Sep 2. doi: 10.1002/ana.22620. [Epub ahead of print]
Inflammation during fetal and neonatal life: Implications for neurologic and neuropsychiatric disease in children and adults.
Hagberg H, Gressens P, Mallard C.
Source
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden; Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Campus, London, United Kingdom. henrik.hagberg@obgyn.gu.se.
Abstract
Inflammation is increasingly recognized as being of both physiological and pathological importance in the immature brain. The rationale of this review is to present an update on this topic with focus on long-term consequences of inflammation during childhood and in adults. The immature brain can be exposed to inflammation in connection with viral or bacterial infection during pregnancy or as a result of sterile central nervous system (CNS) insults. Through efficient anti-inflammatory and reparative processes, inflammation may resolve without any harmful effects on the brain. Alternatively, inflammation contributes to injury or enhances CNS vulnerability. Acute inflammation can also be shifted to a chronic inflammatory state and/or adversely affect brain development. Hypothetically, microglia are the main immunocompetent cells in the immature CNS, and depending on the stimulus, molecular context, and timing, these cells will acquire various phenotypes, which will be critical regarding the CNS consequences of inflammation. Inflammation has long-term consequences and could speculatively modify the risk of a variety of neurological disorders, including cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, cognitive impairment, and Parkinson disease. So far, the picture is incomplete, and data mostly experimental. Further studies are required to strengthen the associations in humans and to determine whether novel therapeutic interventions during the perinatal period can influence the occurrence of neurological disease later in life. Ann Neurol 2012;
Copyright © 2012 American Neurological Association.
PMID:
22334391
[PubMed – as supplied by publisher]
Swiss Med Wkly. 2012 Jan 20;142:0. doi: 10.4414/smw.2012.13502.
Psychosocial stress and cardiovascular risk : current opinion.
von Känel R.
Source
Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and University of Bern, Switzerland. roland.vonkaenel@insel.ch
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Epidemiologic research of the last half-century has clearly shown that psychosocial factors related to the social environment, personality characteristics, and negative affect increase the risk of incident CVD and also impact prognosis of cardiac patients. Several mechanisms may explain this link, including a genetic predisposition, poor lifestyle choices, low adherence to health recommendations, and direct pathophysiologic perturbations. The latter include alteration of the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis and autonomic dysfunction resulting in endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and a prothrombotic state further downstream. Screening for psychosocial factors seems appropriate as part of the standard history and based on the clinician’s knowledge of the patient and the purpose of the visit. Psychological interventions generally alleviate distress in cardiac patients, but whether they reduce the risk of hard cardiovascular endpoints and all-cause mortality is less evident. Cardiac patients with more severe depression may particularly profit from antidepressant medications. Due to their pharmacologic properties, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors were shown to improve cardiovascular outcome. The most effective psychosocial treatment is multicomponent therapy that combines elements of cognitive behaviour therapy (“stress management”) and changes in health behaviours, including the adoption of a regular exercise regimen. Gender-specific issues should probably be considered. The field of behavioural cardiology has accumulated a wealth of epidemiological, mechanistic and clinical knowledge that undoubtedly has furthered our understanding about the important role of psychosocial risk factors in patients with a heart disease.
PMID:
22271452
[PubMed – in process]
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Maurice Preter, MD is a European and U.S. educated psychiatrist, psychotherapist, psychopharmacologist, neurologist, and medical-legal expert in private practice in Manhattan. He is also the principal of Fifth Avenue Concierge Medicine, PLLC, a medical concierge service and health advisory for select individuals and families.
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