Concussion Study Among Athletes

Twelve retired sports players have pledged to donate their brains to Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (at BU's School of Medicine) which is devoted to studying the long-term effects of concussions. The Center said last week in a press release that the brain of former Houston Oilers linebacker John Grimsley "... exhibited pronounced chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition that is often seen in retired athletes, such as boxers, who have a history of repeated concussions.

The New York Times notes that one of the NFL players who is donating his brain, former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, "... hoped the center would help clarify the issue of concussions’ long-term effects, which have been tied to cognitive impairment and depression in several published studies." The Times reports that the NFL believes that "... the long-term effects of concussions are uncertain."

Players do not intend their donation to be a condemnation of the NFL; the Times quotes Johnson: "I'm not being vindictive. I'm not trying to reach up from the grave and get the NFL. But any doctor who doesn't connect concussions with long-term effects should be ashamed of themselves." ESPN.com quotes former NFL linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski: "There might be a connotation that this is a witch hunt, point the finger at the NFL. It's just not like that."

Six NFL players' brains have been examined post-mortem, and five were found to have evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Dr. Ann C. McKee, a co-director of the new brain-study center, told the Times:

“I’ve seen thousands of brains of individuals with neurogenerative diseases and debilitating diseases. I can say this is identical to the pugilistica dementia that I’ve seen in boxers in their 70s and 80s. It’s milder because the patients are younger. But once triggered, it seems to progress. The people that develop this disease, most of them show symptoms 10 or 20 years after retirement. It progresses inexorably until death.”

While it's only five cases, McKee says, it is a strong argument for "unequivocal evidence that on-field impacts were a primary cause of the damage, perhaps in association with genetic and other factors her program will attempt to identify."

Boston University released a statement about the study on September 26, which includes some convincing images of brain damage which is an "an indicator of the degenerative brain disease CTE." The images from Dr. McKee show a "microscopic brain section from a 65-year-old control subject," along with a creepy image of linebacker John Grimsley's brain, and a disturbing image of the same cells of "a 73-year-old world-champion boxer with end-stage CTE and dementia."

The press release at Boston University quotes John Grimsley's wife Virginia, who says she plans to reach out to more NFL players, urging them to consider participating in the BU study. "The stigma needs to go away that you’re a sissy if you come out of the game and don’t go back in. A concussion is a big deal. It’s not just a ding."

For More Information

• Former players to donate brains for study of concussions. ESPN.com, September 24, 2008.
• Daniloff, Caleb. NFL, U.S. Soccer Athletes Donate Brains to BU: New Center to Study Concussions and Permanent Damage. BU Today: Science & Technology. September 26, 2008.
  
• Schwartz, Alan. 12 Athletes Leaving Brains to Concussion Study. New York Times, September 24, 2008.
  

Brain Plasticity and Psychotherapy

Australia's terrific cognitive science radio show All in the Mind just had a two-part series called The Power of Plasticity in which host Natasha Mitchell interviewed psychiatrist Norman Doidge (Columbia University and the University of Toronto) and Jeffrey Schwartz (UCLA) about "neuroplasticians" (Doidge's term).

As Mitchell notes on the episode page, "the adult brain was a rigid, unchangeable organ, but that pessimistic perspective is now being radically revised;" she talks with Schwartz and Doidge about the many ways they know that the brain is, in fact, changeable and adaptable.

Schwartz discusses how people with obsessive compulsive disorder can take advantage of the brain's plasticity to actually change the wiring and minimize the disorder. He says that the part of the brain involved with OCD (the cordate nucleus) functions somewhat like the transmission in a car:

... what happens in obsessive compulsive disorder is you literally do get a stuck transmission and you get this error detection circuit coming in from another part of the brain in the front called the orbital frontal cortex locking, and you can't shift out of it and because you're locked in to an error detection circuit, you are bombarded with feelings that something is wrong, even though the rest of your brain and mind adequately can tell most of the time that even though this feels terrible it really doesn't make sense.

And apparently, according to Schwartz, "people could direct their own inner environment through this enhanced understanding. So I said [to myself] this is self-directed neuroplasticity."

Doidge talks about how psychotherapy can also change some of the brain's wiring; his analogy is to skiing:

plasticity is like snow on a hill in winter, if we're going to ski down that hill because the snow is plastic and pliable we can take many different paths down that hill, not an infinite number, there are rocks here and trees over there. And if we had a good pass down the first time, being human we will tend to favour a path close to that the second and third times and then because the snow is pliable and plastic we'll develop tracks which become ruts and we can get stuck in them, brain lock.

He adds that "many of the neuroplastic treatments basically find ways of setting up road blocks, so that you can get out of those ruts and learn about new pathways and grow new pathways etc."

Both Schwartz and Doidge tell some fascinating stories. The two episodes are well worth a listen, and you can read the transcript online if you prefer.

For More Information

• The Power of Plasticity, Part 1 of 2. All in the Mind, September 13, 2008.
• The Power of Plasticity, Part 2 of 2. All in the Mind, September 20, 2008.
• See also: Norman Doidge Discusses Neuroplasticity Brain Science Podcast, December 14, 2007.
  

Soda or Pop?

what is this carbonated beverage? 

Do you call it "pop"?  "soda"?  a brand name soda pop? I ran across a linguistics map showing who calls it what:

Read about it at the Strange Maps blog, The Pop Vs Soda Map.  They cite an article by Luanne von Schneidemesser, PhD in German linguistics and philology (University of Wisconsin-Madison) showing who calls "carbonated beverages" what.  They note that von Schneidemesser is a senior editor of the Dictionary of American Regional English.  

For More Information

• Schneidemesser, Luanne von. "Soda or Pop?" (first page in pdf)  Journal of English Linguistics, 1996 Dec; 24 (4): 270-87.  [article that is basis for blog post]
  
• Strange Maps.  The Pop Vs Soda Map. August 18, 2008.

Favorite Podcasts

I've had two conversations recently in which I was discussing favorite science podcasts. Since this blog serves as a long-term memory aid, I'm listing, in alphabetical order, some of the sci-tech podcasts I like right now. (read about earlier favorites)

• All in the Mind Terrific 30-minute discussion of all things psychology from Australia's ABC Radio National. Host and science journalist Natasha Mitchell is very knowledgeable and has interviewed folks like Steven Pinker, Dan Dennett, and others in psychology, neuroscience, and even philosophy. I've blogged about many episodes. (note: their web site was down as I wrote this, but it should be back soon)
  
• Brain Science Podcast Host Ginger Campbell (an ER "doc" in Alabama) conducts terrific interviews and book talks about many cognitive science topics. She's interviewed Christof Koch, linguist Alice Gaby, and Brain Rules author John Medina. She asks good, knowledgeable questions and her conversations have inspired me to buy many books for myself and for my library. You can follow Ginger on Twitter, and read what I've blogged about prior Brain Science podcasts.
  
• Free Library of Philadelphia "Author Event" lectures, feature many types of authors including several scientists. I just listened to physicist Paul Davies' talk entitled Cosmic Jackpot: Why Our Universe Is Just Right for Life and was riveted by Simon Winchester talking about The Man Who Loved China: Joseph Needham and the Making of a Masterpiece. There are also lectures by Steven Pinker on his book The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature and Eric Kandel talking about In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind. Looks like mathematician and physicist Brian Greene will be speaking this fall! These hour-long talks usually contain a 30-minute lecture then ~30 minutes of Q&A with the audience.
  
• Future Tense 3-4 minute radio program subtitled "Public radio's daily journal of the digital age." Host (and Twitterer) Jon Gordon covers many aspects of technology, such as podcasting (not mainstream yet, apparently), PowerPoint, as well as many Mac and PC issues. I've blogged many Future Tense episodes.
  
• GSLIScast Audio recordings from many speaker presentations at Simmons Graduate School of Library & Information Science. They usually run 60-90 minutes.
• Radio Times with WHYY's Marty Moss-Coane. The majority of these 50-minute podcast are NOT about science, but the ones that are are terrific (and the others are, too). Moss-Coane has interviewed Avery Gilbert, psychologist and smell expert; Gary Marcus, Hampshire alum and director of NYU's Infant Language Learning Center; and Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. Unfortunately, the mp3 links have a short shelf-live at WHYY's site, so it's best to subscribe to the show via iTunes.
  
• SirsiDynix Institute Free, hour-long workshops with library leaders about various aspects of library science, including David Lee King's primer on video on the web and the awesome Maximizing the Power of the Web: Pew Internet & American Life Project's 2007 Findings with Lee Rainie.
  
• TED Talks 20-minute talks by prominent thinkers in many disciplines, including science, technology, arts, and more. Topics include Sugata Mitra showing how kids teach themselves; Patricia Burchat shedding light on dark matter; and Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web. I've blogged about several TED Talks.
  
• TVBarn Not science-related, but thoughtful conversations about TV between (Twitterer) Aaron Barnhart and a few radio talk show hosts across the country. My favorites are when he speaks with Paul Harris. They are usually 5-15 minutes but sometimes last longer.

Please add your favorite science podcast(s) in the comments!

My Public Schedule for Fall

In case you were wondering, there are a few places you can see me this fall, and if you can't come see me, you can read some stuff I wrote. Here are the details:

Workshops
"Live Usability Lab: See One, Do One & Take One Home."
Thursday, September 11, 2008, 9 am-noon
Middletown Library Service Center Meeting Room
Free! Class limit: 20

Description: This innovative half-day workshop will provide background on usability and define the user experience (UX). We will offer a "live usability lab" with audience assessment of one library web site and provide time and resources to create usability scenarios for YOUR web resources. Attendees will participate in interactive usability testing to evaluate web-based library resources from the user's perspective. You will also develop questions and methodology to assess usability and the UX @ your library!

"Live Web Usability Lab," co-presenting with iCONN's Steve Cauffman and ECSU's Carol Abetelli.
CASL Conference 2008 (the Connecticut Association of School Librarians)
November 10, 2008, 2 identical sessions: 10:15 - 11 and 1:15-2:15
Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell, CT

Description: What do your students think about your school library’s Web site? This session provides a dynamic way to see how usability testing can help evaluate Web resources from your students’ perspective. A panel of librarians will use an innovative, interactive method to assess iCONN; to demonstrate the potential and power of user testing; and to engage the audience by illustrating the process with live data instead of canned examples. This session is for all ages, but is best for librarians who have created web sites for their students.

Articles (forthcoming)

• "Peer to Peer: UConn’s experiment with student 'ambassadors' for vendor-funded training on specialized searching." Library Journal, Sept. 15, 2008, co-authored with UConn Communication Sciences graduate student Chelsea Hammond.
• "Community Connections: The Student Ambassador Program at the University of Connecticut." Elsevier Library Connect Newsletter, October 2008.

Library Tip o' the Month: Office Hours

I will be holding two office hours outside of the library this semester.

• On Tuesdays from noon-1, I will be in the Communication Sciences building, in room 105a.
• On Wednesdays from 3-4, I will be in the Psychology building, in room 190c.

You can come to see me during those times and ask me anything (preferably about library resources, but I'm game for other topics too) -- no appointment necessary!

I can help undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty improve searches in library "search engines" like PsycINFO, Medline, and Scopus. I can also help you manage the citations / articles you've found using a nifty tool called RefWorks. Bring your questions (and your laptop if you like) and stop in to see me!

Did you know?

• You can search Medline & PsycINFO together!

About: Library Tip o' the Month

This summer, I was appointed the librarian for the department of psychology at UConn. UConn's department of psychology is organized into six sections, covering Behavioral Neuroscience, Developmental, Clinical, Perception, Action, Cognition, Industrial/ Organizational, and Social psychology. They also offer programs in Language & Cognition and Ecological Psychology. You can see some of the faculty's recent publications in this Scopus feed -- very interesting indeed!

This is great news for me, as I'm quite a psychology buff, and I'm excited to work with some actual cognitive scientists. As part of my new duties, I am going to integrate this blog with my work for psychology and communication sciences (where I am also the liaison). So interspersed with cog sci news & info will be periodic posts providing a "Library Tip o' the Month."

Stay tuned!

Seeing Sound

The Talking Books librarian blogs about an article at the BBC about software which helps the deaf to "see" sound. Using the newly-developed software Lumisonic, sound is represented by moving rings which radiate, and change depending on the pitch, volume, etc. It helps people with hearing difficulties understand the sounds they make, such as how loud it is, as well as its texture and quality. There's a neat video, which features kids using a Wii controller to change the sound that they are "seeing" on a computer: "I wanted to see some crazy circles" said one. As he said that, sound poured from the machine, which he was controlling, even though he can't hear.

The BBC article reports that musicians from the London Philharmonic Orchestra played for / with deaf children at Whitefields School in East London. They quote Dr Mick Grierson from Goldsmith's, University of London: "It gave them a way of interacting with sound and music, with musicians who are highly skilled. It enabled them to work with music in a way they haven't been able to before."

For More Information

• Helping the deaf to 'see sound.' BBC News, August 13, 2008.
  

Favorite Albums by Year

Finally, a meme I can (want to) write about! Liam, over at Panorama of the Mountains, lists his Favorite Albums by Year, starting with the soundtrack to Wattstax, back in 1973. I don't think I can go back that far (if I did, it would include things like Carly Simon's Hotcakes, Al Stewart’s Past, Present, and Future, and ELO's Out of the Blue) with my musical favorites. Instead, I'll start my list when I started making my "Favorite Songs of the Year" CD. I can't limit myself to one CD, so I'll list the best and the runner up.

• 2001: Kirsty MacCall ... Tropical Brainstorm (RIP)
  
• Runner up: Eliza Carthy ... Angels & Cigarettes
• 2002: Mark Knopfler ... Ragpicker's Dream
• Runner up: Raul Malo ... Today
• 2003: Belle & Sebastian ... Dear Catastrophe Waitress
• Runner up: Fountains of Wayne ... Welcome Interstate Managers
• 2004: Chumbawamba ... Un
• Runner up: Michael Franti & Spearhead ... Everyone Deserves Music
• 2005: Winterpills ... Winterpills
• Runner up: Dido ... Life for Rent
  
• 2006: Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins ... Rabbit Fur Coat
• Runner up: The Guggenheim Grotto ... Waltzing Alone
  
• 2007: Camera Obscura ... Let’s Get out of this Country
  
• Runner up: Steve Forbert ... Strange Names and New Sensations
  

Note that these are my favorite albums during that year, which doesn't mean that the album was released in that year. For instance, Today was released in 2001, but heard and fell in love with it in 2002.

If you're into this kind of list-making, consider yourself tagged for this blog meme.

Thoughtful Talk about Positive Psychology

Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology ("a field of study that examines healthy states, such as happiness, strength of character and optimism") spoke at the Ted Conference back in 2004, and the video has just been made available online:



He talks clearly about the state of positive psychology today, including some background. Psychology (arguably, clinical psychology, though he doesn't explicitly say this) has long been known for making "miserable people less miserable" - but Seligman argues that there is a cost to this: we become "victimologists," ignore "normal people" and genius, and we don't work on developing "interventions" on helping people become happier.

He describes three kinds of "happiness:"

1. The "pleasant life" includes having as many pleasures and pleasant emotions as possible. Some drawbacks: much of this is "heritable," meaning that you are born with it or you're not; and like tasty food, pleasant emotions can be "habituated," (Seligman analogizes French vanilla ice cream: the first bite is scrumptious, but by the sixth bite, you forget it's the best ice cream you've ever had).
2. The "good life," which Seligman describes as being about "flow:" when time stops, you have intense concentration, and you are totally consumed by what you're doing.
3. Meaning. Knowing what your strengths are and using them to good effect for yourself and others.
   

Finally, Seligman talks about successful "positive interventions" which help improve people's happiness. He assures the audience that studies for these interventions are done in the same "rigorous" manner in which drug effectiveness is tested, including long-term studies, placebo controlled, and random assignment of therapies. He describes some interesting activities which enhance the pleasant life:

1. Plan a beautiful day
2. Gratitude visit
3. Strengths date (with couples)
   
4. Fun vs. philanthropy (note: philanthropy has longer-lasting "pleasant" results than fun)

Watch the video for details about these activities, and check out his web site for even more information.

For More Information

• Seligman, Martin. What Positive Psychology Can Help You Become. TED Talks, February 2004.
• Authentic Happiness, Seligman's home page at the University of Pennsylvania. It includes:
• Strengths test - find what your strengths are to improve meaning, and a whole bunch of other questionnaires.
  
• Seligman, Martin, Tracey Steen, Nansook Park, and Christopher Peterson. "Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions." American Psychologist 6.5 (2005):5-14.
• Links to more resources about positive psychology.