Archive for 2013

Autism spectrum disorders are severe neurodevelopmental disorders affecting young children that are usually detected in the first years of life. Autism is now recognized as one of the most common developmental disorders — likely to affect about 10,000 youth under age 18 in Oregon. Meanwhile, epidemiological studies have shown increasing rates of autism in most countries.  On Tuesday, April 2, as part of the OHSU Brain Awareness Season lecture series, I will speak about my … Read More

“What do I have to lose?” I hear this question regularly from patients who want to try the latest “breakthrough” in Alzheimer’s research featured on television or YouTube.  These are typically things that either have been tested in animals with no human studies or things that have been tested haphazardly in small numbers of patients and then vigorously hyped. For example, curcumin is a component of curry that has been tested in animals, with a … Read More

Functional neurosurgery is surgery intended to improve brain function.  These procedures have been applied to the treatment of pain, movement disorders, epilepsy, and behavioral disorders. In the past, the techniques were mostly targeted destruction of brain tissue or pathways. In very specific areas, destroying brain tissue could actually help — by decreasing a person’s tremors from movement disorders, for instance. Now with deep brain stimulation technology, these techniques are being replaced by reversible, and non-damaging … Read More

Every February, healthcare providers and researchers from all over the world meet for the American Stroke Association’s annual International Stroke Conference. This year the conference was hosted in Honolulu, Hawaii and I was honored to attend and present three of my own papers on stroke. The conference was huge. There were so many interesting topics covered simultaneously that I ended up having to read about some of them afterwards. But there were a few things … Read More

When I was 6 years old, I ran into a door frame and had to have stitches on my forehead. I remember that I was running to answer the phone. I remember thinking “oh no, I’m going to hit that door frame!” And, of course, I remember that after the stitches were put in, the doctors put a bandage on my teddy bear’s forehead to cheer me up. But … do I really “remember” all … Read More

Where is your pain? The short answer is simple: in your brain. It may seem as if it’s in your broken finger, or the toe you just stubbed on the door, or in your aching tooth. But it’s not. Pain is a sensory experience, and resides in your brain. To consider why I say that, ask yourself: does an anesthetized patient feel pain during a surgical procedure?  The answer (assuming the patient is properly anesthetized … Read More

Tremor is the most common movement seen in persons with Parkinson’s disease. But other movements can also be seen. A resting tremor, which is found in about 80 percent of persons with Parkinson’s disease, is a rhythmic movement that most often starts in one hand. It generally is most prominent when the hand is resting and relaxed. Over time it often travels to the opposite hand or to the leg on the same side of … Read More

Oregonians becoming “brain aware” — that is the goal of the OHSU Brain Institute’s Brain Awareness Season Lecture Series. Everyone wonders or worries about their brain. There is so much to learn and understand. And brain science — neuroscience — transforms society, from parenting to prisons, from autism discoveries to Alzheimer’s prevention and from creating new policies to improving current medical practices. The 2013 Brain Awareness Lecture series — which begins Feb. 25 and runs … Read More

Report from Milan, Italy, Feb. 8, 2013: I am sitting in an auditorium in Milan, Italy, with about 100 other neurologists and scientists. This is the second day that I have sat here. We have come from many countries — including Germany, France, Austria, England, Scotland, Canada, Australia, Italy and the United States — for the First Scientific Conference of the International Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Collaborative. This meeting illustrates how scientists from around the world … Read More

As Valentine’s Day nears, and we think about love and attraction, it’s tempting to think it’s all about longing stares and fluttering hearts and fate. But beneath all of that, it’s really about … dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. Because when we talk about “chemistry” between two people, we are also talking a lot about “brain chemistry.” A couple of years ago, I was part of a special multimedia presentation, with Grammy nominated vocalist … Read More