Blog Archives

NeuroDiversity & Mental Health

10/22/2021

Neurodiversity and Mental Health?

"There is growing evidence that neurodiverse conditions are accompanied by mental health challenges."
--------Aug. 2021

For a lot of people like myself, that Developmental Diagnosis came LAST, rather tragically.

When we talk about TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE and understanding that ---- NEURO-DIVERSE people are at particular risk if not the primary population for psychiatric disorders --- WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Well, it tends to mean a helluva lot.

While NEURO-DIVERSITY is all over the map, one of the things it often has in common is EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DEFICITS or DIFFERENCES and at least often --- Special Abilities in one or more areas.

So from a Translational Medicine Perspective, we need to be:

Providing early identification and support to kids with ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, "Giftedness," etc.
That Support includes development of STRENGTHS, and workarounds and accommodations for EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES.
Continuation of appropriate level of SUPPORT throughout the lifespan.

The SUPPORT NEEDED is related to how WIDESPREAD the UNDERSTANDING and KNOWLEDGE is in the Society regarding Executive Functioning Deficits or Differences.

If that knowledge isn't SOLID in the Mental Health Profession, much less the rest of the COMMUNITY ---- there is going to be an IMMENSE NEED for SUPPORT.

Highlights from the 2019 UK national multidisciplinary conference on Neurodiversity and Mental Health.

[Next Friday: Developmental Inflammation & Neuro-Immune Dysregulations in Neuro-Diversity]

Neuro-Inflammation and re-defining the "BIG PICTURE"

10/16/2021

"Neuroinflammation" is DOMINATING much of the RESEARCH regarding "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS" --- but it largely hasn't gotten to CLINICIANS.

Monday --- we're getting back to our letter to the American Bar Association.

In some ways, I do think LAWYERS tend to be MORE FLEXIBLE THINKERS and INTEGRATERS OF KNOWLEDGE.

THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM and POLICYMAKERS need FLEXIBILITY OF THOUGHT and and ability to INTEGRATE VAST AMOUNTS OF KNOWLEDGE.

By and large, Flexibility of Thought and Integration of Knowledge involve IDENTIFYING ANOMALIES and RE-WORKING that BIG PICTURE.

Neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders: PET imaging and promising new targets (2020)

Affiliations

1Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
2Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden.
3Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
4Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
5Molecular Imaging Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Brain Disorders: Focus on Neuroinflammation (2019)

University of Groningen Medical Center --- The Netherlands

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil

Abstract

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the most studied neurotrophins in the healthy and diseased brain.

As a result, there is a large body of evidence that associates BDNF with neuronal maintenance, neuronal survival, plasticity, and neurotransmitter regulation.

Patients with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders often have reduced BDNF concentrations in their blood and brain.

A current hypothesis suggests that these abnormal BDNF levels might be due to the chronic inflammatory state of the brain in certain disorders, as neuroinflammation is known to affect several BDNF-related signaling pathways.

Activation of glia cells can induce an increase in the levels of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines and reactive oxygen species, which can lead to the modulation of neuronal function and neurotoxicity observed in several brain pathologies.

Understanding how neuroinflammation is involved in disorders of the brain, especially in the disease onset and progression, can be crucial for the development of new strategies of treatment.

Despite the increasing evidence for the involvement of BDNF and neuroinflammation in brain disorders, there is scarce evidence that addresses the interaction between the neurotrophin and neuroinflammation in psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases.

This review focuses on the effect of acute and chronic inflammation on BDNF levels in the most common psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and aims to shed some light on the possible biological mechanisms that may influence this effect.

In addition, this review will address the effect of behavior and pharmacological interventions on BDNF levels in these disorders.

Affiliations

1Neurobiology and Developmental Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Biosciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Ipiranga Av. 6681, Porto Alegre, 90619-900, Brazil.
2Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 31.001, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands.
3Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 31.001, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands.

What "Mental Health" Has Been Missing? DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE & ITS RAMIFICATIONS

10/9/2021

This has been DIFFICULT for BOTH INDIVIDUALS and PROFESSIONALS --- because most people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS have:
- An IQ above 70
- Have AVERAGE or ABOVE-AVERAGE INTELLIGENCE
- OFTEN have special ATHLETIC, CREATIVE and/or INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES

So that didn't seem to describe our CLASSIC UNDERSTANDING of a person with an INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY.
- So the IDEA that the Mental Health Profession was going to help people "CHANGE" --- didn't seem out of place.

This IDEA of "CHANGING PEOPLE" not only seems out of place --- it seems DANGEROUS in 2021
- Most people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS have "HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS"
- According to the National Institute of Mental Health, PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS are NOT DISTINCT --- BUT BLURRED.
- It is not just the BRAIN, but also the IMMUNE SYSTEM, the MICROBIOME and the ENDOCRINE SYSTEM that are involved in "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."

In 2021, "EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES" are certainly recognized in the RESEARCH COMMUNITY as an often COMMON CHALLENGE across "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."

Rather than trying to CHANGE these DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCES, it would be much more helpful if MENTAL HEALTH [or SOMEBODY] would:
- Focus on WORKAROUNDS for Executive Functioning Differences
- Develop Strengths, AND
- and STOP WASTING OUR TIME AND MONEY.

Temple Grandin

Boccamazzo adds that he "can't think of a single soul who has a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or learning disability, who only has a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or learning disability."

"All of us are anxious as hell, pretty much all of us struggle with chronic depression as well, largely due to the fact that we've been told we're a broken version of normal our entire lives," he continues.

------Understanding and supporting neurodiversity in the workplace

Maternal Immune Activation alters Adult Behavior

10/3/2021

Some "EXPERTS" raised SIGNIFICANT ISSUES regarding PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS---
- It wasn't always clear whether they UNDERSTOOD THE IMPLICATIONS of the ISSUES they were raising --- OR
- They did UNDERSTAND those IMPLICATIONS -- BUT they were TOO PRO SOCIALLY COMPETENT to say them OUT LOUD.

Dr. Thomas Insel

In 2013, the National Institute of Mental Health and its then Director Dr. Thomas Insel started to say some things OUT LOUD.

The DSM 5 is NOT SCIENTIFICALLY VALID because it only describes CLUSTERS of SYMPTOMS and NOT THE UNDERLYING BIOLOGY.
Psychiatric Disorders are much more BLURRED than previously thought --- there are COMMON MECHANISMS.

What has become CLEARER in the INTERIM --- is that MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION is one of those COMMON MECHANISMS.

Maternal immune activation
alters---

Adult Behavior, Intestinal Integrity, Gut Microbiota and the Gut Inflammation (April 2021)

Affiliations

Henan Mental Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
Henan Key Lab of Biological Psychiatry of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, China.
International Joint Research Laboratory for Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Henan, Xinxiang, China.
Henan Province People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China.

Maternal Immune Activation
and

Neuropsychiatric Illness:

A Translational Research Perspective

Affiliation

From the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York; the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich-Vetsuisse, Zurich; and the Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich.

Translational Medicine Friday

We're riffing off NPR's Science Friday to create Translational Medicine Friday.

We'll be collecting Research Article recommendations for Clinicians with regard to Cognitive Disability.

There is much in the RESEARCH JOURNALS and we'll just be SKIMMING THE SURFACE.

The POINT is to INCREASE FUNDING for TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH at the Federal Level for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Nation's Research & Teaching Hospitals and possible collaborations with Medicare and Medicaid providers.

Translational Medicine Friday

NeuroDiversity & Mental Health

Neuro-Inflammation and re-defining the "BIG PICTURE"

What "Mental Health" Has Been Missing? ​DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE & ITS RAMIFICATIONS

Maternal Immune Activation alters Adult Behavior

Translational Medicine Friday

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What "Mental Health" Has Been Missing? DEVELOPMENTAL DIFFERENCE & ITS RAMIFICATIONS