Biopsy Webzine may 2001

-Researchers Discover Mind's Key to Self-Image

-Musical Training During Childhood May Influence Regional Brain Growth

-STUDY FINDS THERAPIST IS KEY TO MENTAL HEALTH , not the Therapy. Study
argues against medicalization for the purpose of prescribing drugs.

-10th Annual Futurehealth Winter Brain meeting Feb 7-11 2002, Miami, FL.
Register early and see the speaker list and panel topics so far.
www.futurehealth.org/2002.htm

-BIOGRAPH TUTORIAL VIDEOS FOR BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED USERS by Joel Lubar,
Lynda and Michael Thompson, and TT research Director Didier Combatalade
INFO AT

-Neurobiology of Transcendant Religious & Mystical Experience book review
of
Why God Won't Go Away : Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew
Newberg M.D., et al Book Review by Rob Kall


Researchers Discover Mind's Key to Self-Image
PHILADELPHIA, PA - Researchers may have identified the area of the brain
that controls our sense of self, according to a study presented during the
American Academy of Neurology's 53rd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA,
May 5-11, 2001.

"We think of our 'self' -- including our beliefs and values and even the
way we dress -- as something we determine, not just an anatomical process,"
said study author and neurologist Bruce L. Miller, MD, of the University of
California, San Francisco. "But this research shows that one area of the
brain controls much of our sense of self, and damage to that area can
dramatically change who we are."

Miller started investigating the anatomy of the self after noticing that
several of his patients with frontotemporal dementia underwent dramatic
changes, from changing their political and religious beliefs to changing
the clothes they wore and the food they ate.

"One woman was a charming, dynamic real estate agent who went from wearing
expensive designer apparel to choosing cheap clothing and gaudy beads and
asking strangers the cost of their clothing," Miller said. "Her preference
for fine dining in French restaurants turned into a love of fast food."

In another case, a 40-year-old man sold his business and tried several
jobs, but was always fired for irresponsible behavior. "He had been a
critical, self-reliant person who recognized his own mistakes, but now he
blamed his employers for his poor work record," Miller said. "At home he
went from being tight-fisted and short-tempered to relaxed and easy-going.
His views about sex, which had been puritanical, were now tolerant and even
experimental -- he even urged his children to share his new, uninhibited
philosophy."

"We wanted to figure out how this disease could cause such dramatic
changes," Miller said.

For the study, researchers examined 72 people with frontotemporal dementia,
a rare form of dementia that is often genetic and usually develops in
people in their 50s. The patients were evaluated to identify those with a
change in their "self," which was defined as changes in their political,
social or religious values or style of dress. MRI and single photon
emission computerized tomography (SPECT) images were used to determine
which areas of the brain had the most severe degeneration from the disease.


Seven patients had a dramatic change of self. Of those, six had the most
severe abnormalities in the brain's right frontal lobe. In the seventh
patient, the right temporal lobe was the most affected. Of the 65 patients
whose sense of self did not change dramatically, only one had the most
severe damage in the right frontal lobe, Miller said.

"This suggests that normal functioning of the right frontal lobe is
necessary for people to maintain their sense of self," Miller said. "It
shows that a biological disorder can not only have profound effects on
behavior, but it can even break down well-established patterns of awareness
and self-reflection."

The patients with the loss of self had relatively normal memory and
language functioning, which is impaired in some frontotemporal dementia
patients, according to Miller.

Musical Training During Childhood May Influence Regional Brain Growth

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- Research has revealed significant differences in the
gray matter distribution between professional musicians trained at an early
age and non-musicians, as presented today at the American Academy of
Neurology's 53rd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. The musicians in the
study had more relative gray matter volume in left and right primary
sensorimotor regions, the left more than the right intraparietal sulcus
region, the left basal ganglia region and the left posterior perisylvian
region, with pronounced differences also seen in the cerebellum
bilaterally.

"We were interested to know whether intense environmental demands such as
musical training at an early age influenced actual brain growth and
development," comments study leader Gottfried Schlaug, MD, PhD. Results of
this cross-sectional study may indicate use-dependent brain growth or
structural plasticity of gray matter volume in response to such demands
during a critical period of brain maturation. "An alternative explanation
may be that these musicians were born with these differences, which may
draw them toward their musical gifts."

Fifteen male professional musicians and 15 age and gender matched
non-musicians were included in the study conducted by neurologist Schlaug
and Gaser Christian, PhD, of Germany, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center, Boston. Using a magnetic resonance imaging sequence, they compared
high resolution anatomical datasets of the professional musicians' and
non-musicians' brains on a voxel-by-voxel basis using SPM99 software.

"Musicians typically commence training at an early age, making them ideal
subjects for this type of investigation," notes Schlaug. These presumed
cerebral adaptations may not only lead to modifications of functional
sensory and motor maps, but may also lead to structural adaptations within
the sensorimotor system.

"However," Schlaug concludes, "additional study is necessary to confirm
causal relationships between intense motor training for a long period of
time and structural changes in motor and non-motor related brain regions."
Schlaug is continuing this study to identify areas of the brain that are
different, and to determine if training and experience create the
differences.




STUDY FINDS THERAPIST IS KEY TO MENTAL HEALTH , not the Therapy. In a study
arguing against medicalization for the purpose of prescribing drugs.

MADISON - The drive by HMOs to "medicalize" psychotherapy - insisting that
practitioners look for a medical disorder such as clinical depression and
then dispense a prescribed treatment - will ultimately suffocate
psychotherapy through ignorance of how it works.

That's the contention of Bruce Wampold, professor of counseling psychology
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of a new, controversial
book, "The Great Psychotherapy Debate."

Based on a comprehensive quantitative review of studies on psychotherapy's
effectiveness, he rejects the a-pill-for-a-pain approach of HMOs and
clinical scientists who use a medical model for psychotherapy.

"The evidence is clear," Wampold says. "There is a dramatically greater
variance in outcomes due to the therapist, compared to the chosen
treatment. A person with a need for psychotherapy should seek the most
competent therapist possible without regard to various therapies."

In fact, Wampold's analysis shows that specific treatments or techniques
account for less than 1 percent of the variance in improvement in
psychotherapy patients. It's the therapist that counts, not the therapy.

Wampold contends that the research does not support the current trend to
identify certain treatments for particular disorders regardless of the
characteristics of the patients. Instead, he proposes a contextual model
that takes into account patient attitudes, values, culture and world view.

Medicalizing psychotherapy has ominous overtones, he says: "Medicine, which
includes the pharmaceutical companies, is a bold gorilla that will crush
the warm, fuzzy psychotherapy teddy bear. For example, you are infinitely
more likely to see TV ads for Prozac or Zoloft to treat depression than for
psychotherapy."

Wampold believes that medicine and psychotherapy can work together without
forcing psychotherapy into a medical reimbursement mentality. Moreover,
universities should focus their training on the therapeutic skills so
important to improving clients' lives - empathetic listening and
responding, building client relationships and self-reflection.

CONTACT: Bruce Wampold, (608) 262-2878, wampold@...


Why God Won't Go Away : Brain Science and the Biology of Belief
by Andrew Newberg M.D., et al
Book Review by Rob Kall

Neurobiology of Transcendant Religious & Mystical Experience

This is a great book, one I've already recommended to hundreds of people! I
bought it because I was interested in how neurology could explain religious
experience. Then, as I went from chapter to chapter, my expectations would
be surpassed, again and again.
As the organizer of The Futurehealth Winter Brain Meeting, I have a good
feel for what is going on in the world of brain research, particularly
around the issues of consciousness and spirituality.

This book covers some new ground, with new PET scan data, but more
important, it is a well woven exploration of a new model which covers how
the neurological functioning of the brain not only explains, but inevitably
leads to the creation of myths, rituals and the kinds of transcendent
mystical experiences upon which religions are founded.

The authors have done their homework so they can discuss the neurobiology
of the brain from a renaissance person's rounded perspective.

Since I am also very interested in the art and science of story, it was a
wonderful treat to discover the chapter on the neurobiological foundations
for the creation of myths.

It's a controversial book which raises plenty of questions. I give the
authors lots of credit for not trying to provide, or suggesting they have
all the answers. But they do raise good questions.

So, if you want to have a transcendent religious or mystical experience,
read the book and learn how to deafferentize the part of your parietal
loves they describe with explicit detail. (according to a colleague who has
done surgical deafferentation research, deafferentize means to reduce,
restrict or cut off signals or information to a specific neural area.) <g>

Or.... try some rituals-- the other means of accessing transcendence which
they explain the workings of.