The Brain In A Bucket
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Autism Speaks and the Autism Clinical Trials Network report that a new low dose, melt-in-your-mouth version of Fluoxetine failed to reduce repetitive behaviors in children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism. Physicians’ clinical observations that Fluoxetine controlled these behaviors spurred this research. Fluoxetine is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that is commonly referred to as a “anti-depressant.” Researchers discovered that although Fluoxetine did reduce repetitive behaviors, the reductions were no greater than children given a sugar pill (placebo).
In a yet unpublished study (in press), researchers* report that children with ADHD who underwent neurofeedback training in a randomized clinical trial realized significant improvements on numerous home and school behavioral rating scales. The study included a large sample size, randomized assignment to an experimental or control group, semi-blinded parents to their child’s treatment condition, and great care to insure that all groups received equal treatment from the researchers. Why is this important? Many previous neurofeedback studies lack these type of experimental controls and/or have small samples. The more rigorous design used in the study under discussion today provides important empirical validation of neurofeedback and will probably go on to become a very important study for the field of neurofeedback and children with ADHD.
Just a quick post to alert our readers to the new Recommended Books section of this website. The goal is the create the ultimate Health Psychology / Medical Psychology / Behavioral Medicine book list. Hopefully many books will eventually receive formal reviews. Only books that we have personally read or are well thought of by [...]
A freely available PDF article entitled, Helping Doctors and Patients Make Sense of Health Statistics, may be a great resource for those confused or intimidated by common health-related statistical terms. For example, try to define survival rate, positive predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity. Check the article* to see if your definitions are accurate. You might [...]
McCrea delivers a comprehensive, state of the art review of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-concussion syndrome (PCS) in about 200 pages. A succinct writing style characterizes “Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Postconcussion Syndrome: The New Evidence Base for Diagnosis and Treatment” cover to cover.
An in-depth investigation by the Environment Working Group* (EWP) revealed that 10 different brands of bottle water contained some contaminants that were well above legal limits established for public tap water. The researchers found a total of 38 contaminants, some cancer causing, across 10 brands purchased from different regions in the United States. This equated [...]
I am very pleased to provide the response of our first invited guest commentator, Mirjam Kouijzer, lead author of the research discussed in the recent BMED Report article, Neurofeedback For Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Promising Results In A Small Sample. The BMED Report extends a warm thanks to Mirjam Kouijzer and Hein van Schie for this [...]
