RelentlesslyOptimistic

Highway to...

via pricklylegs.tumblr.com

Does doodling actually increase your ability to pay attention?

This is true for me.

"doodling may increase your ability to pay attention when your mind is tempted to wander:

Via The Science of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadlies (and Why They Are So Good For You):

Now, we know that mind-wandering can hamper memory performance on such tests. Does doodling offer some protection against this? The results of Andrade’s study: doodlers recalled 29 percent more information than nondoodlers did."

via www.bakadesuyo.com

ADD: What it's like

via drawingboardcomic.com

Procrastination Flowchart

I was going to post this a couple months ago...

From ehdom via www.bookofjoe.com

ADD

via fuckyeahdementia.com

ADD In Action

I'm going to make a T-shirt with this on it:

As soon as I get around to it.

From the wonderful For Your Entertainment.

Advantage: ADD

The Fit Tend to Fidget, and Biology May Be Why, a Study Says

"Overweight people have a tendency to sit, while lean ones have trouble holding still..researchers are reporting in findings published today."
"...The difference translates into about 350 calories a day, enough to produce a weight loss of 30 to 40 pounds in one year..."
"...the Mayo Clinic outfitted 10 lean men and women and 10 slightly obese ones - all of whom described themselves as "couch potatoes" - with underwear carrying sensors that measured their body postures and movements every half second..."
"...Each phase included a 10-day period during which they had to wear the underwear with the sensors around the clock, taking it off for only about 15 minutes a day to shower and get a fresh set from the researchers."
"...the bottom was a risqué-looking pair of shorts with openings at the crotch and backside so the garment would not have to be lowered during the day, which would have disturbed the sensors..."
Dr. Levine said he had designed the outfit with a colleague..."you have to test them for comfort. I would put them on top of my suit...Nothing gave me more pleasure than to wander around with this bizarre underwear over my suit."

I love science.

Restless legs meet phantom limbs

Link: Majikthise : Case of the week: Restless legs meet phantom limbs.

You're probably familiar with restless legs syndrome and phantom limb sydrome, but the following case report may surprise you:

Restless legs syndrome in a patient with amputation of both legs
Estivill E, de la Fuente-Panell V, Segarra-Isern F, Albares-Tendero J. Rev Neurol. 2004 Sep 16-30;39(6):536-8.

INTRODUCTION: We present the case of a patient who, after amputation of both legs, suffered restless legs syndrome (RLS). This syndrome is characterised by a feeling of agitation in the legs and an overwhelming need to move them.
CASE REPORT: A 62-year-old male patient who visited because of sleep onset and maintenance insomnia. The aetiology of the insomnia was interpreted as being an anxiety-dysthymic syndrome, which improved with suitable medication. Five months later, the patient returned with the same symptoms (onset insomnia). On questioning the patient again, we noticed that he displayed clear symptoms of RLS, despite the absence of both lower limbs. The clinical features were resolved with the administration of ropinirole.

CONCLUSIONS: We do not know of any similar cases, but the scarce amount of knowledge available about RLS makes it likely that many patients with amputations present this problem without any proper diagnosis.

MRI DTI Brain Scans Finds Brain Abnormalities in ADD, Shows Brain Development Improvement From Stimulants

The article also discusses seeing the effects of medication using this scanning technique, seeing differences in the brains of schizophrenics, and the possibilities of using this scanning technique as a diagnostic method. One study showed that stimulant medications can help in brain development in children with ADD!

FuturePundit: MRI DTI Brain Scans

A fairly new type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), has been used to examine the brains of children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ADHD children were found to have abnormal fiber pathways that connect the different parts of the brain.

CHICAGO – Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) display anatomical brain abnormalities beyond chemical imbalance, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Stimulant medications prescribed to balance brain chemistry appear to normalize some of these brain irregularities, a second study reported.

"We found abnormality of the fiber pathways in the frontal cortex, basal ganglia, brain stem and cerebellum," said lead author of both studies, Manzar Ashtari, PhD., associate professor of radiology and psychiatry at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

"These areas are involved in the processes that regulate attention, impulsive behavior, motor activity, and inhibition--the key symptoms in ADHD children," Dr. Ashtari said. "They are also known to be part of a bigger circuit in the brain that establishes communication between the frontal lobe and cerebellum."

ADHD - NeuroImaging Used to Understand Syndrome

ADHD - NeuroImaging Used to Understand $77B problem: Corante > Brain Waves
A new study will use imaging to study the effect of stimulants on ADD and non-ADD brains.

ADD In The Morning

• Clip lead of article in Star about tree damage from snowstorm, start entry noting Bradford-Pear-damaged car.
• Send email with clip of article to appropriate staff.
• Open all tree bookmarks to find RTRP, finding arborist, how to prune links for tree post.
• Send email with idea from tree bookmarks about trees and Keep Kansas City Beautiful.
• While in Outlook, glance at incoming mail, respond to my brother's post about Thanksgiving dinner.
• Another incoming message has good Solzhenitzen quote, go to WIST site to get post, start reading other 'S' quotes, and post three of them.
• Open personal blog of WIST person, read that, add to my feeds, clip an article. Open several other articles in tabs to clip them.
• Begin drafting an email to Doug McKenzie Mohr about Superman post and its relevance to CBSM, save it to think about more before sending.
• Realize that I've forgotten about the tree post, realize I have 10 tabs opened beyond the last tree tab, and 14 tabs beyond the original article that started my first post, which isn't finished yet.
• Write this post. Elapsed time from sending clipped tree article to now: 75 minutes.

It's a good thing that efficiency is not the goal here.

Adults With Restless Legs Syndrome More Likely To Have ADHD

Adults With Restless Legs Syndrome More Likely To Have ADHD

Adults who have restless legs syndrome are more likely to also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than adults who don't have the sleep disorder, according to research presented during the American Academy of Neurology’s 53rd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, PA, May 5-11, 2001.