How thoughts affect mood

During a day of presentations at the 7th Annual Kunin-Lunenfeld Applied Research Unit http://www.klaru-baycrest.on.ca/ Conference in October, Dr. Kathleen Corcoran noted that cognitive behaviour therapy is now well-established in the treatment of depression in older adults, whether by itself or in combination with medication.

The therapy requires patients to “self monitor” their thoughts and with practice start to recognize which types of thoughts cause their depressed mood. “It’s not so much a situation that affects our mood, but how we interpret the situation,” explained Dr. Corcoran, a psychologist with the Mood and Anxiety Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

 

 

 

Research links diet to dementia

Research has shown that eating patterns practiced during adulthood can contribute to age-related cognitive decline and dementia risk. An article published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences described the benefits of diets high in fruit, vegetables, cereals and fish and low in saturated fats in reducing dementia risk.

Adults with diabetes are especially sensitive to the foods they eat, noted the study’s author Dr. Carol Greenwood, a senior scientist at Baycrest. An adult with diabetes will experience a decline in memory function after a meal, especially if simple carbohydrate foods are consumed. To protect brain function, the recommendation is to eat balanced meals and maintain a healthy body weight.

 

 

Brain scans might one day prevent Alzheimer’s

Brain scanning could one day lead to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, according to international leaders in brain imaging who gathered for the 18th annual Rotman Research Institute Conference in March.

Today’s powerful brain imaging technologies provide high resolution and detailed images of “amyloid” plaque and other indicators of Alzheimer’s that were once only visible at autopsy.

“We can now identify much earlier the pathological markers that signal the onset of a disease in the aging brain and better test the effects of drug and cognitive rehabilitation on the brain itself,” explains conference chair Dr. Tiffany Chow, a clinician-scientist in Baycrest’s Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic.

“In tracking how the suspected causes of Alzheimer’s react to medications over time through images, we will understand how to prevent progression of the brain changes to the state where memory is lost.”

 

 

Frontal lobe damage can be “risky” business

Scientists at the Rotman Research Institute have pinpointed two specific areas in the frontal lobes of the brain that, when injured, can shift a person’s level of comfort with risk.

In collaboration with American colleagues, the scientists used a computerized gambling task that looked at the way people make decisions in the context of uncertainty. Three groups of individuals were tested—those with brain injuries in the frontal lobes, those with lesions in other parts of the brain, and healthy control subjects.

The study found that participants with injuries that involved the left orbital and ventrolateral areas made riskier decisions compared to the healthy control group and patients with lesions to any other part of the brain. “This finding,” explains lead study author Dr. Darlene Floden, “may have important implications for designing interventions to address inappropriate or risky behaviour that can develop after frontal lobe damage and help patients to function more independently, which would be a tremendous relief to their families.”

Dr. Floden is a neuropsychologist andresearcher in the Centre for Neurological Restoration at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. The study was published in Neuropsychologia in January, 2008.