At a recent physical and mental health fair in LaGrange, Georgia, Brainjogging team members raised awareness for Brainjogging's cognitive processing software and for the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives' Brain Awareness Week.

The Alliance’s next BAW week will be March 12-18, 2011.  Please visit visit the Dana Foundation’s Brain Awareness Week website to access free publications and resources on neurological research, as well as information on Brain Awareness Week.

Each March, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives sponsors Brain Awareness Week (BAW) to promote awareness of brain research and its incredible benefits.  Over 300 neuroscientists, 10 of whom are Nobel laureates, comprise the Dana Alliance fro Brain Initiatives.  The Alliance was established as an affiliate of the Dana Foundation, an organization dedicated to conducting brain research and distributing it internationally.  Both the Dana Foundation and the Alliance for Brain Initiatives are on the forefront of brain research, and serve as a liaison between neuroscientists and the public.

Brain research helps neuroscientists to understand and interpret not only human behavior and understanding but also brain disorders and injuries.  Because of neuroscientific research, scientists know how neurological disorders work — and how to accommodate them.  This is important in the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities.  Neurological research has shown that dyslexia affects the V5MT area of the brain and that Wernicke’s area is important in the development of language.

Camp Academia, Inc.’s Brainjogging® program is based on over three decades of brain research.  Organizations like the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives receive grants for clinical and laboratory research, allowing their neuroscientists to conduct studies and disseminate their results to BAW partners like Camp Academia, INC.

Dr. Keith Zulling and Rebecca White from West Virginia University found that “taking part in sports is good all around for young teens: physically, socially and mentally” (Science Daily).  Zulling and White studied middle-school teenagers and found that those “who are physically active and play on sports teams are more satisfied with their life and feel healthier” than other teens.

The study sought to explain the link between physical activity, specifically participation on sports teams; life satisfaction; and self-rated health concurrently.  Participants included 245 middle school students in seventh and eighth grade and between the ages of 12 and 14 years.  Boys and girls were included in the study.  Participants completed questionnaires that assessed “their physical activity levels, their overall satisfaction with life and [asked] them to describe their own health.”

The study compared vigorous physical activity, completed within the last week, to participation on a sports team.  Boys did not indicate that participating in vigorous activity in the last week had an effect on their life satisfaction or self-rated health.  Girls that participated in vigorous physical activity within the past week, on the other hand, were “significantly more satisfied with their life compared to girls who had not.”  However, the participation in vigorous activity did not affect girls’ impression of their self-rated health.

Playing on a sports team, though, “was linked to higher life satisfaction in both boys and girls.”  Boys “were five times more likely, and girls 30 times more likely, to describe their health as fair/poor when they were not playing on a sports team.”

Participation on a sports team not only promotes physical activity but also influences young adults’ impression of their life satisfaction.  Sports teams also allow young adults access to a social network they may be more keenly aware of missing if not on a sports team.

Brainjogging's Katie Cyphers with Dr. Larry Silver, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and Past-President of LDA.

As you may have noticed, Katie Cyphers has been missing in action for the last week! Not to fear, she has been busy gathering information and immersing herself in the latest research on learning disabilities at the Learning Disabilities Association of America National Conference. This year’s conference was held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Jacksonville, Florida.

During the conference, Katie had the pleasure of dining with Dr. Larry Silver. Dr. Silver is the author of more than 150 publications, including The Misunderstood Child: Understanding and Coping with Your Child’s Learning Disabilities. He is a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical Center in Washington, D.C.. Dr. Silver is extremely active with the Learning Disabilities Association of America and is a Past-President of this organization. He has received several awards for his contributions to the study and treatment of learning disabilities, including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s Berman Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Silver has also received LDA’s highest award for outstanding leadership in the field of learning disabilities. He serves on the Professional Advisory Board for LDA.

What an amazing experience to spend time with one of the leading researchers in the field of learning disabilities! Dr. Silver was friends with Dr. Samuel Kirk, the father of learning disabilities.  If you have not done so already, we encourage you to join the Learning Disabilities Association of America. Together, we can help reduce the incidence of learning disabilities in future generations.

[Brainjogging believes that many children are sensitive to digitized media.  This sensitivity is most closely observable in children with autism.  Brainjogging’s students do not play video games and parents, particularly of children with autism, are warned against allowing their children to watch 3D movies or television programs.  The following message has been taken directly from Samsung’s web site message regarding its 3D products.  CNN’s SciTechBlog recently featured Samsung’s warning.]

Samsung’s web site message can be found here in its entirety.  The following are some of the warnings “highlights”:

* Some viewers may experience an epileptic seizure or stroke when exposed to certain flashing images or lights contained in certain television pictures or video games. If you or any of your family has a history of epilepsy or stroke, please consult with a medical specialist before using the 3D function.

* If you experience any of the following symptoms, immediately stop watching 3D pictures and consult a medical specialist: (1) altered vision; (2) lightheadedness; (3) dizziness; (4) involuntary movements such as eye or muscle twitching; (5) confusion; (6) nausea; (7) loss of awareness; (8) convulsions; (9) cramps; and/or (10) disorientation. Parents should monitor and ask their children about the above symptoms as children and teenagers may be more likely to experience these symptoms than adults.

* Viewing in 3D mode may also cause motion sickness, perceptual after effects, disorientation, eye strain, and decreased postural stability. It is recommended that users take frequent breaks to lessen the likelihood of these effects. If you have any of the above symptoms, immediately discontinue use of this device and do not resume until the symptoms have subsided.

* Watching TV while sitting too close to the screen for an extended period of time may damage your eyesight. The ideal viewing distance should be at least three times the height of the TV screen. It is recommended that the viewer’s eyes are level with the screen.

* Watching TV while wearing 3D Active Glasses for an extended period of time may cause headaches or fatigue. If you experience a headache, fatigue or dizziness, stop watching TV and rest.

* Viewing in 3D mode may cause disorientation for some viewers. DO NOT place your television near open stairwells, cables, balconies or other objects that may cause you to injure yourself.

Take care of your children’s developing minds. If they exhibit atypical behavior directly after or even within a few hours of watching digitized media on a 3D product, discontinue use and contact a medical consultant.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health recently focused their intellectual efforts anxiety and brain activity in an attempt to discern which areas of the brain are relevant to developing childhood anxiety.  Ned  H. Kalin and his colleagues revealed that “increased brain activity in the amygdale and anterior hippocampus could predict anxious temperaments in young primates” (Science Daily).

Kalin stated, “Children with anxious temperaments suffer from extreme shyness, persistent worry and increased bodily responses to stress. […] These children are at increased risk of developing anxiety, depression and associated substance abuse disorders.”

Kalin’s past research substantiated that “anxious young monkeys are similar to children who are temperamentally anxious.”  In this study, researchers attempted to assess the extent to which genetic and environmental factors affect activity in anxiety-related brain regions.  Using a sample group of 238 young rhesus monkeys, researchers conducted postiron emission tomography (PET) scans; in humans, PET scans are used to “understand regional brain function by measuring the brain’s use of glucose.”

The study’s findings included the following:

“Young rhesus monkeys from a large related family showed a clear pattern of inherited anxious temperament;

Monkeys with anxious temperaments had higher activity in the central nucleus of the amygdale and the anterior campus; additionally, researchers could predict an individual’s degree of anxious temperament by its brain activity;

Genes and environmental factors affected activity in the amygdale and hippocampus in different ways, providing a brain-based understanding of how nature and nurture might interact to determine an individual’s vulnerability to developing common psychiatric disorders.”

Most surprising, however, was that “activity in the anterior hippocampus was more heritable than in the amygdale.”  This suggests that familial risk markers for anxiety could be “identified by understanding alterations in specific genes that influence hippocampal function.”  The study’s findings suggest that perhaps environmental factors can be modified in order “to prevent children from developing full-blown anxiety.”

The study substantiates, as many others have, that reaching children at an early age is crucial to successful intervention.  Brainjogging is one highly successful tool for successful intervention for anxious children or those at risk for developing anxiety.  Brainjogging increases children’s focus and decreases their anxiety. Parents and teachers generally notice an uptick in the moods of children with depressive tendencies and a settling of children with hyperactivity.