May 17th, 2012
A new study indicates that consuming large quantities of high fructose corn syrup (found in soda, condiments, applesauce and many processed snacks) can negatively impact learning and memory. This study involved lab rats but researchers speculate that the same may be true for humans.
Neuropsychologists have long known that blood sugar levels can impact cognitive functioning and that diabetes can have long term consequences for memory and other cognitive abilities.
Excerpts:
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles UCLA fed two groups of rats a solution containing high-fructose corn syrup — a common ingredient in processed foods — as drinking water for six weeks.
One group of rats was supplemented with brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid DHA, while the other group was not.
Before the sugar drinks began, the rats were enrolled in a five-day training session in a complicated maze. After six weeks on the sweet solution, the rats were then placed back in the maze to see how they fared.
“The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity,” said Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, a professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
“Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats ability to think clearly and recall the route theyd learned six weeks earlier.”
A closer look at the rat brains revealed that those who were not fed DHA supplements had also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates brain function.
In other words, eating too much fructose could interfere with insulins ability to regulate how cells use and store sugar, which is necessary for processing thoughts and emotions.
“Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning,” Gomez-Pinilla said.
“Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new.”
The average American consumes more than 40 pounds 18 kilograms of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
“Eating a high-fructose diet over the long term alters your brains ability to learn and remember information. But adding omega-3 fatty acids to your meals can help minimize the damage.”
The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology.
via Sugar can make you dumb, US scientists warn – Yahoo! News.
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May 7th, 2012
Blue Cross in Massachusetts will be significantly limiting prescriptions of common painkillers, including Percocet and Vicodin. The insurer is making this move in part of an effort to curb abuse.
Pain patients may need to utilize alternative treatment approaches more frequently. Some health psychologists specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy approaches that teach clients to better manage pain without medication. Biofeedback training is often part of the treatment as well.
Excerpts from article:
Amid a rising sea of addictions to prescription painkillers, Massachusetts’ largest health insurer is launching a policy to curb abuse by significantly limiting the amount of pain medication most patients can receive without prior approval from the insurer.
The program by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, scheduled to start July 1, will allow patients to fill a 15-day prescription and one additional 15-day supply of the most common opioid drugs, such as Percocet and Vicodin, before the insurer hits the pause button.
Future refills will trigger a Blue Cross review and the need for assurances from the prescriber that several requirements have been met, including patient counseling about the significant risk for developing an addiction, and an agreement that subsequent prescriptions will be written only by the same physician and filled at the same pharmacy or pharmacy chain to stem so-called “doctor-shopping.’’
via Blue Cross plan targets abuse of painkillers – Health & wellness – The Boston Globe.
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April 29th, 2012
Research shows that steroid shots for back pain are not more effective than placebo. And, the author of this study said current research suggests that exercise is the most effective way to reduce back pain.
Psychological approaches to pain management can also be effective. Health psychologists that specialize in pain management offer stress management training, biofeedback training and cognitive therapy approaches to teach clients skills to manage and reduce pain. Psychological treatments and skills can help clients minimize use of medications while improving functioning and quality of life.
If you would like more information about pain management services, call us today.
via For Back Pain, Steroid Shots No More Effective Than Placebo – NYTimes.com.
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April 23rd, 2012
A new view of depression suggests that depression is neither a mental nor physical disorder, but a system disorder affecting both the mind and body. This integrated view of depression has significant implications for how we treat depression. And, this perspective highlights the need for effective coordinated care among therapists, prescribers and primary care physicians.
Excerpts from article:
Scientists are increasingly finding that depression and other psychological disorders can be as much diseases of the body as of the mind.
People with long-term psychological stress, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder tend to develop earlier and more serious forms of physical illnesses that usually hit people in older age, such as stroke, dementia, heart disease and diabetes. Recent research points to what might be happening on the cellular level that could account for this.
Scientists are finding that the same changes to chromosomes that happen as people age can also be found in people experiencing major stress and depression.
The phenomenon, known as “accelerated aging,” is beginning to reshape the fields understanding of stress and depression not merely as psychological conditions but as body-wide illnesses in which mood may be just the most obvious symptom.
“As we learn more…we will begin to think less of depression as a mental illness or even a brain disease, but as a systemic illness,” says Owen Wolkowitz, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who along with colleagues has conducted research in the field.
Gaining a better understanding of the mechanisms that link physical and mental conditions could someday prove helpful in diagnosing and treating psychological illnesses and improving cognition in people with memory problems, Dr. Wolkowitz says.
Early Aging
People who have major bouts of depression have an increased risk at a younger age of developing conditions typically associated with getting older. This may be because depression makes cells age prematurely, new research suggests. [These conditions include:]
•Heart disease
•Atherosclerosis
•Hypertension
•Stroke
•Dementia•
Osteoporosis
•Type 2 diabetesSource: Owen Wolkowitz, UCSF
via New View of Depression: An Ailment of the Entire Body – WSJ.com.
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April 9th, 2012
If you fill prescriptions to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), such as Ritalin or Adderall, you know the generic versions of these medications have been in limited supply since 2011. But drug makers have told the Food and Drug Administration that they will release enough medication–particularly the short-acting versions of these drugs–in April, which should end the shortage, according to FDA spokesperson, Shelly Burgess.
If you believe you have symptoms of ADHD, neuropsychological testing can aid in determining whether a diagnosis of ADHD is appropriate for you. If you have already been diagnosed with ADHD, treatments and Cogmed Working Memory Training is also available.
via FDA says ADHD drug shortage to end in April.
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March 15th, 2012
If you are looking for a new way to change unwanted behaviors or habits, social psychologist Timothy D. Wilson, Ph.D. has an interesting and useful approach to consider. He details his thoughts in a recent interview. Check out an excerpt below or click the link at the bottom to read more.
Revising your story
Social psychologist Timothy D. Wilson argues that behavior change may be easier than we think.
By Kirsten WeirMarch 2012, Vol 43, No. 3
University of Virginia psychologist Timothy D. Wilson, PhD, is fascinated by the stories people tell themselves to make sense of the world. Those personal narratives, he says, can make the difference between living a healthy, productive life—or not.But the question is: How can we alter those narratives to enact positive, lasting change?
Wilson—co-author of the bestselling textbook Social Psychology, now in its seventh edition—has some answers. In his 2011 book “Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change,” Wilson takes aim at a number of conventional behavior-change programs, from abstinence-only sex education to Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, which aims to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder after distressing events. Too often, such programs are implemented before theyve been adequately tested, he says, and many dont work as intended.
In their place, he offers a surprisingly simple approach for behavior change. Wilson calls this process “story editing,” and he recently spoke with the Monitor about how it can change lives for the better.
via Revising your story.
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February 26th, 2012
A new article in the New York Times discusses procrastination and what to do about it. The article offers helpful ideas and perspectives but does not address the possibility that procrastination may reflect an attention deficit disorder.
If you tend to procrastinate and wonder whether you may have ADHD, we offer diagnostic testing and treatment for ADHD.
Excerpts from article:
SINCE time began, it seems, people have been putting off till tomorrow what they could have done today — berating themselves and inconveniencing others in the process.
It wouldn’t be a problem except that time eventually runs out. “You may delay, but time will not,” said Benjamin Franklin.
In the world of work, procrastination has “expensive and visible costs,” saidRory Vaden, a corporate trainer, who points to research showing that the average employee admits to wasting two hours a day on nonwork tasks.
People know that procrastination hurts themselves, others and their work, so why do they do it? One answer, especially in these times, is that they are overwhelmed, said Julie Morgenstern, a productivity consultant in New York and author of “Time Management From the Inside Out.”
Read more at: Procrastinating at Work? Maybe You’re Overwhelmed – NYTimes.com.
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February 23rd, 2012
CPA recently expanded our ADHD Coaching services in our Boston and Newton locations. Several of our staff members recently completed training to become coaches for the Cogmed Working Memory Training Program. Cogmed is a computerized training program that has been shown to improve attention and working memory, which can help people function better in their daily lives. Coaching and Cogmed offer effective alternatives to stimulant medication treatment.
Cogmed has been shown to be effective for individuals with ADHD and also with other neurological injuries or illness that impact attention. If you’d like to learn more about ADHD coaching or our Cogmed Working Memory training program, give us a call.
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February 17th, 2012
Ever wonder what helps some folks handle money better than others? Recent information from the American Psychological Association might offer some insight into this issue. And, psychologists can help people with willpower.
Excerpt:
It’s probably not a surprise to read that money and the economy are top causes of stress for Americans, as shown in APA’s most recent Stress in America Survey. Whether it’s thinking about paying the mortgage, buying groceries, or saving money a lot of brain power is devoted to making financial decisions. These financial decisions, big or small, require willpower.
One way to understand willpower is that it is like a muscle that can become tired. As you exert your willpower, it begins to lose its strength. Recent research indicates that people whose willpower is run down are more likely to spend an increased amount of money and purchase additional items than those who haven’t recently exerted their willpower. Low willpower, research suggests, can lead to less control over spending.
People who are constantly faced with tough financial decisions, such as those who are less financially stable, more readily deplete their willpower.
via Willpower, Finances and Spending.
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February 13th, 2012
An interesting article in the New York Times highlights how our own psychological makeup can impact our decisions about investing and money. Learning to understand how emotion and beliefs can affect our decision making might help some make better financial decisions.
Excerpt:
PEOPLE’S intuition is often wrong when it comes to investing. We often buy when we should be selling, or focus on red herrings. So are there ways to overcome these tendencies?
After a flood of research in the growing field of behavioral economics, we know the answer is yes, although doing the right thing with money involves recognition and discipline.
Many tenets of prudent financial decision-making can be found in the work of Daniel Kahneman and his acolytes. Professor Kahneman’s best-selling book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011 opens up some new vistas on human behavior that can be applied to our worst investing mistakes.
Professor Kahneman, a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economic science in 2002, has turned classical economics on its head in many ways, noting that it is folly to engage in day trading or to think you have an advantage in picking securities. Investors don’t always act in their own best interests and are consistently led astray by emotional motives and cognitive errors, he said. Overconfidence is a bugaboo.
“People have little idea, by and large, of the investment world,” Professor Kahneman said. “They are convinced they have an advantage.”
One of the most common errors investors commit, he has found, is making bad decisions simply because of the overriding fear of loss, an important concept of the so-called prospect theory he pioneered with his fellow researcher, Amos Tversky, who died in 1996.
via Learning to Mistrust Your Financial Instincts – NYTimes.com.
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