The ethics of brain boosting

A healthy adult volunteer takes part in a brain stimulation study. Photo: Roi Cohen Kadosh.

(Medical Xpress) -- The idea of a simple, cheap and widely available device that could boost brain function sounds too good to be true.

Yet promising results in the lab with emerging ‘brain stimulation’ techniques, though still very preliminary, have prompted Oxford neuroscientists to team up with leading ethicists at the University to consider the issues the new technology could raise. They spoke to Radio 4's Today program this morning.

Recent research in Oxford and elsewhere has shown that one type of brain stimulation in particular, called transcranial direct current stimulation or TDCS, can be used to improve language and maths abilities, memory, problem solving, attention, even movement.

Critically, this is not just helping to restore function in those with impaired abilities. TDCS can be used to enhance healthy people’s mental capacities. Indeed, most of the research so far has been carried out in healthy adults.

TDCS uses electrodes placed on the outside of the head to pass tiny currents across regions of the brain for 20 minutes or so. The currents of 1–2 mA make it easier for neurons in these brain regions to fire. It is thought that this enhances the making and strengthening of connections involved in learning and memory.

The technique is painless, all indications at the moment are that it is safe, and the effects can last over the long term.

Dr. Roi Cohen Kadosh, who has carried out brain stimulation studies at the Department of Experimental Psychology, very definitely has a vision for how TDCS could be used in the future: "I can see a time when people plug a simple device into an iPad so that their brain is stimulated when they are doing their homework, learning French or taking up the piano," he says.

The growing number of positive results in early-stage studies, led the neuroscientists Dr. Cohen Kadosh and Dr. Jacinta O’Shea to talk to Professor Neil Levy, Dr. Nick Shea and Professor Julian Savulescu in the Oxford Centre for Neuroethics about what ethical issues there may be in future widespread use of TDCS to boost abilities in healthy people.

The researchers outline the issues in a short paper in the journal Current Biology

 

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, and indicate the research that is now necessary to address some of the potential concerns.

"We ask: should we use brain stimulation to enhance cognition, and what are the risks?" explains Roi. "Our aim was to look at whether it gives rise to new ethical issues, issues that will increasingly need to be thought about in our field but also by policymakers and the public."

"This research cuts to core of humanity: the capacity to learn," says Professor Julian Savulescu. "The capacity to learn varies across people, across ages and with illness. This kind of technology enables people to get more out of the work they put into learning something." 
  
He adds: "This is a first step down the path of maximizing human potential. It is a very exciting development but we need to control the release of the genie. Although this looks like a simple external device, it acts by affecting the brain. That could have very good effects, but unpredictable side effects."

One of the most obvious uses of brain stimulation techniques is in children as an educational or learning aid. The researchers believe that their use in children would be warranted, and that we should begin research to understand how TDCS might be used in children.

Roi notes that: "Parents will often send their child to piano lessons or to football lessons, wanting them to do well." He considers that providing people with ways of fulfilling their potential is not a bad thing.

The researchers consider whether brain stimulation could be thought of as cheating, with the idea that we can get extra cognitive abilities for no effort. Here they offer a resounding ‘No’.

The technique seems to boost the learning process in conjunction with standard education or training. There is no free ride here – people still need to work at learning a new skill or language themselves. "It won’t be possible to go to sleep at night with the electrodes on, wake up the next day and pass all your exams," says Roi.

They also look at access to this technology, and will it further benefit the well off. But they suggest the TDCS kit is simple and cheap enough to be available to all in schools.

"This technology overcomes some standard objections to enhancement: It is not a set of cheat notes," says Julian. "You require effort and hard work to learn. It is just that you get more out of your effort. And because it is cheap, low tech, easily affordable, it could be widely available. This addresses the objection that it will introduce inequality and unfairness. It could be available and should be available to all, if it is safe and effective." 
  
The researchers’ concern is more that the technology is such that people could assemble all the components needed at home reasonably simply. Roi clearly says that this is not warranted yet with our limited current knowledge about the technique’s use: "The message should very much be 'Don’t try this at home'."

While there have been some ethical discussions in the past of using some drugs to boost concentration or attention, the researchers explain that TDCS is different and needs to be considered separately.

For example, drugs in general are prescribed for use by one person, ingested and taken internally, and with limits on dose. There are no such in-built limits with brain stimulation, and it may not feel as serious as taking a drug because it is an externally applied treatment – though its effects may be as strong.

"Once you have a brain stimulation device, you can use it as often as you want and there are no limits on who uses it," Roi points out.

But at the current time, most of the TDCS work that has been done is preliminary, small-scale and in the lab. There are no clear guidelines for its use as yet, as research is still establishing the optimal ways of using TDCS for different areas of cognition.

The researchers are concerned that in this gap, some people could step in to offer TDCS to vulnerable patients or parents desperate to advance their children before the technique is fully understood.

The researchers also identify a number of outstanding questions:

• Are there downsides to boosting capacity in one area of cognitive ability? Do other mental abilities lose out? 
• The developing brain in children is different to adults. With most research having been in adults, the use of TDCS in children becomes a pressing question. 
• And are the benefits seen in the lab clinically relevant: can TDCS lead to improvements that matter in normal daily life?

Julian says: "At this stage, we need more research to understand better the risks and benefits, in specific populations, in real life. Any regulation should prevent misuse and abuse, but facilitate good research. This kind of technology could be as important as the internet and computing. Those are external cognitive enhancements. This is basic fundamental cognitive enhancement." 
  
The researchers conclude the exciting potential of TDCS requires that this research be done and all these ethical questions considered.

"Enhancing cognitive abilities, or our ability to learn, is not a bad thing to do. There is no problem with that, as far as we see, as long as there are no side effects," says Roi.

"What is the ethical way forward? More research before deployment," says Julian. "It is promising but not proven at this stage."

Provided by Oxford University

"The ethics of brain boosting." January 26th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-ethics-brain-boosting.html

 

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests

A hallmark of the individual is the cultivation of personal interests, but for some people, their intellectual pursuits might actually be genetically predetermined. Survey results published by Princeton University researchers in the journal PLoS ONEsuggest that a family history of psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression could influence the subjects a person finds engaging.

Although preliminary, the findings provide a new look at the oft-studied link between psychiatric conditions and aptitude in the arts or sciences. While previous studies have explored this link by focusing on highly creative individuals or a person's occupation, the Princeton research indicates that the influence of familial neuropsychiatric traits on personal interests is apparently independent of a person's talent or career path, and could help form a person's basic preferences and personality.

Princeton researchers surveyed nearly 1,100 students from the University's Class of 2014 early in their freshman year to learn which major they would choose based on their intellectual interests. The students were then asked to indicate the incidence of mood disorders, substance abuse or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in their family, including parents, siblings and grandparents.

Students interested in pursuing a major in the humanities or social sciences were twice as likely to report that a family member had a mood disorder or a problem with substance abuse. Students with an interest in science and technical majors, on the other hand, were three times more likely to report a sibling with an ASD, a range of developmental disorders that includes autism and Asperger syndrome.

Senior researcher Sam Wang, an associate professor in Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, said that the survey — though not exhaustive nor based on direct clinical diagnoses — presents the idea that certain heritable psychiatric conditions are more closely linked to a person's intellectual interests than is currently supposed.

During the past several decades, Wang said, various researchers have found that, in certain people and their relatives, mood or behavior disorders are associated with a higher-than-average representation in careers related to writing and the humanities, while conditions related to autism exhibit a similar correlation with scientific and technical careers.

By focusing on poets, writers and scientists, however, those studies only include people who have advanced far in "artistic" or "scientific" pursuits and professions, potentially excluding a large group of people who have those interests but no particular aptitude or related career, Wang said. He and lead author Benjamin Campbell, a graduate student at Rockefeller University, selected incoming freshmen because the students are old enough to have defined interests, but are not yet on a set career path. (Princeton students do not declare a major until the end of sophomore year.)

"Until our work, evidence of a connection between neuropsychiatric disorders and artistic aptitude, for example, was based on surveying creative people, where creativity is usually defined in terms of occupation or proficiency in an artistic field," Wang said. "But what if there is a broader category of people associated with bipolar or depression, namely people who think that the arts are interesting? The students we surveyed are not all F. Scott Fitzgerald, but many more of them might like to read F. Scott Fitzgerald."

The Princeton research provides a new and "provocative" consideration that other scientists in this area can build upon, said Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychiatry and behavioral science professor at Johns Hopkins University and co-director of the university's Mood Disorders Center.

Jamison, who is well known for her research on bipolar disorder and her work on the artistic/mood disorder connection, said that while interests and choice of career are presumably related, Wang and Campbell present data suggesting that intellectual interests might also be independently shaped by psychiatric conditions, which provides the issue larger context.

In addition, the researchers focused on an age group that is not typically looked at specifically, but that is usually included in analyses that span various ages. Such a targeted approach lends the results a unique perspective, she said. Though the incidence of psychiatric conditions in the Princeton study was based on the students' own reporting and not definitive diagnoses, the rates Wang and Campbell found are not different from other populations, she noted.

"This is an additional way of looking at a complex problem that is very interesting," said Jamison, who played no role in the research project. "This work provides a piece of the puzzle in understanding why people go into particular occupations. In this field, it's important to do as many different kinds of studies as possible, and this is an interesting initial study with very interesting findings. It will provoke people to think about this question and it will provoke people to design other kinds of studies."

An implied connection between psychiatric conditions and a flair for art or science dates to at least Aristotle, who famously noted that those "eminent in philosophy, politics, poetry and the arts have all had tendencies toward melancholia."

Modern explorations of that relationship have examined the actual prevalence of people with neuropsychiatric disorders and their relatives in particular fields.

Among the most recent work, researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institute reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry in November that of the 300,000 people studied, people with bipolar disorder, as well as their healthy parents and siblings, were more likely to have a "creative" job — including a field in the arts or sciences — than people with no familial history of the condition. Parents and siblings of people with schizophrenia also exhibited a greater tendency to have a creative job, though people with schizophrenia did not.

Various other studies in the past few decades have found a similar correlation between psychiatric disorders and "creativity," which is typically defined by a person's career or eminence in an artistic field such as writing or music. In their work, however, Wang and Campbell present those criteria as too narrow. They instead suggest that psychiatric disorders can predispose a person to a predilection for the subject matter independent of any concrete measure of creativity.

Jamison, in an editorial regarding the Karolinska study and published in the same journal issue, wrote that "having a creative occupation is not the same thing as being creative." Wang and Campbell approached their project from the inverse of that statement: Being creative does not necessarily mean a person has a creative occupation.

"A person is not just what they do for a living," Wang said. "I am a scientist, but not just a scientist. I'm also a guy who reads blogs, listens to jazz and likes to cook. In that same respect, I believe we have potentially broadened the original assertion of Aristotle by including not just the artistically creative, but a larger category — all people whose thought processes gravitate to the humanistic and artistic."

As past studies have, Wang and Campbell suggest a genetic basis for their results. The correlation with interests and psychiatric conditions they observed implies that a common genetic path could lead relatives in similar directions, but with some people developing psychiatric disorders while their kin only possess certain traits of those conditions. Those traits can manifest as preferences for and talents in certain areas, Wang said.

"Altogether, results of our study and those like it suggest that scientists should start thinking about the genetic roots of normal function as much as we discuss the genetic causes of abnormal function. This survey helps show that there might be common cause between the two," Wang said.

"Everyone has specific individual interests that result from experiences in life, but these interests arise from a genetic starting point," Wang said. "This doesn't mean that our genes determine our fate. It just means that our genes launch us down a path in life, leading most people to pursue specific interests and, in extreme cases, leading others toward psychiatric disorders."

More information: This study was published Jan. 26 in the journal PLoS ONE.

Provided by Princeton University

"Survey suggests family history of psychiatric disorders shapes intellectual interests." January 26th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-survey-family-history-psychiatric-disorders.html

 

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Common brain receptor in eyes may link epilepsy, cataracts and antidepressants

Researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Columbia University have discovered that the most common receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the lens of the eye, a finding that may help explain links between cataracts, epilepsy and use of a number of widely prescribed antiepileptic and antidepressant drugs. The research appears online in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

“Recent studies identified associations between increased cataracts and epilepsy, and showed increased cataract prevalence with use of antiepileptic drugs as well as some common antidepressants,” explained corresponding author Peter Frederikse, PhD, of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. “One common theme linking these observations is that our research showed the most prevalent receptor for the major neurotransmitter in the brain is also present in the lens.”

The research team, which included Norman Kleiman, PhD, of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, with Mohammed Farooq of the New Jersey Medical School and Rajesh Kaswala, DDS, and Chinnaswamy Kasinathan, PhD, from the New Jersey Dental School, found these glutamate receptor proteins, and specifically a pivotal GluA2 subunit, are expressed in the lens and appear to be regulated in a surprisingly similar manner to the way they are in the brain. In the nervous system, glutamate and GluA receptor proteins underlie memory formation and mood regulation along with being an important factor in epilepsy, considered a primary disorder of the brain. Consistent with this, these receptor proteins are also targets for a number of antiepileptic drugs and antidepressant medications.

“The presence of these glutamate receptors in the lens suggests they contribute to links between brain disease and cataract, as well as providing unintended secondary ‘targets’ of current drugs,” Frederikse said. “Our goal now is to use this information to parse out the potential effects of antiepileptics and antidepressants on these ‘off-target’ sites in the lens, and to determine the role glutamate receptors have in lens biology and pathology.”

This research was supported by a grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Provided by University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

"Common brain receptor in eyes may link epilepsy, cataracts and antidepressants." January 28th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-common-brain-receptor-eyes-link.html

 

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Robert Karl Stonjek

The pupils are the windows to the mind

The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new paper published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Measuring the diameter of the pupil, the part of the eye that changes size to let in more light, can show what a person is paying attention to. Pupillometry, as it's called, has been used in social psychology, clinical psychology, humans, animals, children, infants—and it should be used even more, the authors say.

The pupil is best known for changing size in reaction to light. In a dark room, your pupils open wide to let in more light; as soon as you step outside into the sunlight, the pupils shrink to pinpricks. This keeps the retina at the back of the eye from being overwhelmed by bright light. Something similar happens in response to psychological stimuli, says Bruno Laeng of the University of Oslo, who cowrote the paper with Sylvain Sirois of Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Gustaf Gredebäck of Uppsala University in Sweden. When someone sees something they want to pay closer attention to, the pupil enlarges. It's not clear why this happens, Laeng says. "One idea is that, by essentially enlarging the field of the visual input, it's beneficial to visual exploration," he says.

However it works, psychological scientists can use the fact that people's pupils widen when they see something they're interested in.

Laeng has used pupil size to study people who had damage to the hippocampus, which usually causes very severe amnesia. Normally, if you show one of these patients a series of pictures, then take a short break, then show them another series of pictures, they don't know which ones they've seen before and which ones are new. But Laeng measured patients' pupils while they did this test and found that the patients did actually respond differently to the pictures they had seen before. "In a way, this is good news, because it shows that some of the brains of these patients, unknown to themselves, is actually capable of making the distinction," he says.

Pupil measurement might also be useful for studying babies. Tiny infants can't tell you what they're paying attention to. "Developmental psychologists have used all kinds of methods to get this information without using language," Laeng says. Seeing what babies are interested in can give clues to what they're able to recognize—different shapes or sounds, for example. A researcher might show a child two images side by side and see which one they look at for longer. Measuring the size of a baby's pupils could do the same without needing a comparison.

The technology already exists for measuring pupils—many modern psychology studies use eye-tracking technology, for example, to see what a subject is looking at, and Laeng and his coauthors hope to convince other psychological scientists to use this method.

Provided by Association for Psychological Science

"The pupils are the windows to the mind." January 28th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-pupils-windows-mind.html

 

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Robert Karl Stonjek

Bearing The Burden

“I think that a terrible wail will be released upon my return, causing the destruction of the Ikshvaku family and the Vanaras.” (Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 13.37) ghoram ārodanam manye gate mayi bhaviṣyati || ikṣvāku kula nāśaḥ ca nāśaḥ caiva vana okasām | Why is Hanuman    thinking so negatively? So what if he failed? How could any of this be blamed on him? He hadn’t committed the atrocious sin of stealing another’s wife and hiding her hundreds of miles away. He wasn’t related to the parties in question; he was just a messenger after all. Lord Rama   , the Supreme Personality of Godhead, would never think of shooting the messenger, and Hanuman was well acquainted with Rama’s qualities. Therefore he had to know that simply putting forth an effort was good enough, that there needn’t be any worrying over failure in the mission of finding Sita Devi   , the daughter of King Janaka. But Hanuman doesn’t operate this way. Because he thinks through every situation thoroughly, he knows the burden placed upon his shoulders. He carries that responsibility well, for no one in history ever faced that much pressure. If we wanted to compare what Hanuman was feeling like, we could perhaps look to the airline pilot, whose job it is to carry hundreds of passengers safely across the sky to their intended destination. To become a pilot requires extensive training, and you’re usually not flying your missions solo. In addition, there are communications channels available to assist you, as well as computers. Nevertheless, just knowing that so many people’s lives depend on your decisions can be a little too much to handle. Hanuman, through careful consideration, felt that two entire communities were depending on his success in Lanka, the enemy territory ruled over by the demon king named Ravana. A demon in this sense doesn’t just refer to someone who has a ghoulish figure and tries to kill people. Since the beginning of time the good and the evil have clashed. In Sanskrit the good are generally referred to as suras, or devotees   , and the evil as asuras, or demons. Those who believe in the Supreme Lord and the worthiness of worshiping Him are the good guys, and they will always be harassed by the side that wants nothing to do with spiritual life. In Lanka were found Rakshasas, who are worse than typical asuras. A person may just be given to atheism and not necessarily desirous of squashing anyone’s belief system. Thus they are asuras by definition, but their influence isn’t very strong. The Rakshasas live in total ignorance; they will eat the flesh of any animal, killing human beings if they have to. Ravana’s clan lived off of terrorizing innocent sages residing in the forests. Just imagine attacking a homeless person on a regular basis while they are eating. That gives a slight idea of how horrible the crimes were that the Rakshasas committed. The sages had nothing; they chose an austere lifestyle so they could devote themselves to God. Rather than leave them be, the Rakshasas assume false guises and then attack at just the right times, when sacrifices to propitiate the lord of sacrifice, Yajneshvara, are going on. Yajna is a Sanskrit word for sacrifice, and it is also a synonym for Vishnu. The entity we have an abstract concept of is more clearly defined in the Vedic tradition. Rather than be referred to as God or the Almighty, the same person is addressed through His different features and pastimes. Since the human being advances in their consciousness by taking up sacrifice, there must be a beneficiary. Typically the surasresiding in the heavenly realm take their portion of the offerings poured into the fire. The clarified butter produced by the innocent cow   is used as an oblation that goes into the fire sacrifice. Each pour is accompanied by the chanting    of specific hymns and mantras. The idea is that the demigods    eat the butter every time it comes into the fire. When they eat, they are satisfied and can thus provide the earth the rain it needs. God is the lord of sacrifice, so He is known as Yajneshvara. Vishnu is another name for the Lord because He is all-pervading. There are also spiritual manifestations, or forms, to go along with these features. Vishnu also addresses God’s four-handed form that resides in the spiritual sky of Vaikuntha. Krishna refers to the Lord’s all-attractiveness and His form as the two-armed Shyamasundara   , the beautiful youth with a blackish complexion. Rama is also Vishnu, but in the form of a warrior prince. Aside from their homes in the spiritual land, these manifestations make appearances on earth every now and then. In this way anyone can worship any of the Vishnu forms and be directly in touch with God. The airline pilot, in addition to receiving direct help from others, is not necessarily in hostile territory. The elements of Mother Nature are neutral. To some the rain is annoying and causes discomfort, while to others it nourishes the crops and maintains life. The falling rain plays no favorites; that it is viewed differently by people is due to the specific viewpoints and dispositions. The rain is not purposefully trying to make anyone happy or sad. Hence there really isn’t an inhibiting force actively engaged in trying to stop the person transporting many people from arriving safely at their destination. Hanuman’s position was quite unique. Sita had been taken by Ravana to Lanka against her will and behind Rama’s back. If you’re willing to kill innocent sages and eat them, you’re obviously not going to have the courtesy to ask a woman if she wants to be with you or even have the courage to fight her powerful husband in battle. Ravana was consumed by his desires for illicit sex   , and he was willing to do whatever it took to satisfy them. “Act now and think later. No one is watching anyway, so if you can get away with the crime everything will be alright.” But Ravana’s punishment would come soon enough. Hanuman would deal the first blow, a mighty one at that. Yet from the neutral observer’s perspective it seemed like victory wasn’t going to happen, that Ravana was going to win. Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana   , after Sita went missing, travelled to the forest of Kishkindha and formed an alliance with a group of enthusiastic monkeys, who were headed by their king Sugriva. Like a good ruler, Sugriva divided up his army into strategic search parties and ordered them to scour the earth to look for Sita. Hanuman was Sugriva’s chief minister who had actually arranged for the initial meeting between Rama and Sugriva. It was an open secret that Hanuman was the most capable and dependable of the monkeys. Therefore it was understood that if Sita were to be found, Hanuman would be the one to find her. Sure enough, eventually Hanuman would be left standing alone, as none of the other monkeys could make the giant leap across the ocean separating the mainland from Lanka, where it was learned that Sita had been taken. Launching yourself off of a mountain peak, flying through the air, and overcoming the obstacles thrown your way is not an easy sequence of events to complete successfully, yet Hanuman forged ahead. He reached the outskirts of the city. Now it was him against a city full of ghoulish creatures. Hanuman was a one-man army, yet he wasn’t intimidated. He clandestinely entered the city and searched practically every inch of space for Sita. He had never seen her before, but based on her qualities, he could understand that she would stand out amongst all the women there. This was indeed true, as Ravana’s many wives were fond of enjoying with their intoxicated husband into the wee hours of the night. Inside the palaces Hanuman saw a lot that he didn’t want to see, but he had no choice in the matter. To look for a beautiful woman, one has to search among other women. That he was risking sin in seeing the wives of another man in their bedroom did not matter to Hanuman. After all this difficult work, Hanuman still hadn’t found Sita. This is where the pressure started to get to him a little bit. He started working through the scenarios of what would happen if he returned to Kishkindha without news of Sita’s whereabouts. Knowing full well everyone’s love for Rama, and the Lord’s love for Sita, Hanuman came to the conclusion that his failure would destroy the entire race of monkeys and the clan of Ikshvakus, Rama’s family. Rama loved Sita, so He wouldn’t live long knowing that she wasn’t found. That in turn would cause Lakshmana to quit his body. Then everyone back in Ayodhya, Rama’s hometown, would also follow suit. Seeing Rama gone, Sugriva would then cease to live. This would be followed by his family members ceasing to be, with the rest of the monkeys eventually suffering the same fate. Can we imagine this kind of pressure, that our failure in a very difficult task would cause so much pain to others? Who would blame Hanuman anyway? Had he not tried his best? What did he do wrong? He wasn’t interested in moral victories or the fame that would accompany his accomplishments. Rather, being locked in devotional meditation, bhakti-yoga, Hanuman wouldn’t live with letting down his beloved Rama. By imagining the worst and adding even more pressure on himself, Hanuman’s resolve increased. He would go on to successfully find Sita and etch his mark in history as one of the greatest heroes. One can’t help but be attracted by Hanuman’s kindness, concern, and resolve. Staying on the righteous path is very difficult, especially since it seems like no one else is interested in following it. How many people are eager to talk about devotional life, the pastimes of the Supreme Lord, and the meaning to an existence? How many people are willing to chant the glories of the Supreme Lord on a regular basis? If we do find someone like this we should consider it the greatest blessing, for just through an exhibition of sincere faith they keep us aligned with virtue. The aim of this birth is to make it our last one in a material dress, which is a temporary dwelling where attachments are formed to objects we have no control over. Association with job, family, friends, and children is temporary, almost happenstance meetings that should never lead to attachment. Yet we always think of what will happen should we lose our association with these objects. That loss is guaranteed, however, as separation is concomitant with birth. Therefore the aim of life is to find an attachment that transcends birth and death. This is where spirituality comes in. Not to be used to find a temporary condition that fosters attachment to something nonpermanent, the ideals of spiritual life are meant to create a purified consciousness that remains steady long after the soul exits the current body. The sound vibrations of, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare   ”, and full immersion in bhakti-yoga practices can help create the right attachment. Hearing about Hanuman, pondering over his thoughts and being floored by his unmatched level of devotion also greatly increase our chances of success in life. Since Hanuman and the wonderful servants of God show the way, their glories continue to increase with each passing day. They are true blessings in this life, and their association should be accepted without hesitation or fear. Hanuman bore the burden placed on him because he had no other choice. He was in a sort of Catch-22. Since he loved Sita and Rama so much, he couldn’t stop thinking about them no matter what he did. Therefore if he had quit and returned home, his consciousness would have been the same. He would have had to live with his failure for the rest of his life. On the other hand, he could continue searching and fail while fighting to the death. One path would bring him tremendous unhappiness and the other would at least maintain the hope that Rama could be pleased. Faced with these options, the correct choice was rather clear. Our life breath similarly exists to allow us to follow the path of devotion. Even if there are temporary setbacks, infighting with other devotional communities, attempts to squash devotion by the asuras, and so many other impediments, the determination should never stop. For as long as the vital force remains in the body, the potential for putting a smile on Shri Rama’s face is there. If He is pleased then the whole world feels the benefit. In Closing: No one ever faced that kind of pressure Like Hanuman, who of victory unsure. Had to find Rama's wife who was missing, In formidable land, fear instilling. Hanuman knew that return would cause loud wail, In Kishkindha upon news that he did fail. Both Ikshvakus and Vanaras would cease to be, When a non-triumphant Hanuman they would see. But above all his love for Rama would prevail, Hand of God ensures that devotee doesn't fail.

Learning to 'talk things through in your head' may help people with autism

Teaching children with autism to 'talk things through in their head' may help them to solve complex day-to-day tasks, which could increase the chances of independent, flexible living later in life, according to new research.

The study, led by Durham University, found that the mechanism for using 'inner speech' or 'talking things through in their head' is intact in children with autism but not always used in the same way as typically developing children do.

The psychologists found that the use, or lack of, thinking in words is strongly linked to the extent of someone's communication impairments which are rooted in early childhood.

However, the researchers suggest teaching and intervention strategies for children targeted at encouraging inner speech may make a difference. These strategies, which include encouraging children to describe their actions out loud, have already proven useful for increasing mental flexibility among typically developing children.

It is also suggested that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) could, for example, benefit from verbal learning of their daily schedule at school rather than using visual timetables as is currently a common approach.

The research by Durham University, Bristol University and City University London is published in Development and Psychopathology.

Lead author, Dr David Williams, lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham University, said: "Most people will 'think in words' when trying to solve problems, which helps with planning or particularly complicated tasks. Young typically developing children tend to talk out loud to guide themselves when they face challenging tasks.

"However, only from about the age of seven do they talk to themselves in their head and, thus, think in words for problem-solving. How good people are at this skill is in part determined by their communication experiences as a young child."

One out of every 100 people in the UK has ASD, which is diagnosed on the basis of a set of core impairments in social engagement, communication and behavioural flexibility. Children with autism often miss out on the early communicative exchanges when they are young which may explain their tendency not to use inner speech when they are older. This relative lack of inner speech use might contribute to some of the repetitive behaviours which are common in people with autism.

In the study, those individuals with more profound communication impairments also struggled most with the use of inner speech for complex tasks. People with ASD did, however, use inner speech to recall things from their short-term memory.

Dr Williams said: "These results show that inner speech has its roots in interpersonal communication with others early in life, and it demonstrates that people who are poor at communicating with others will generally be poor at communicating with themselves.

"It also shows that there is a critical distinction between being able to express yourself verbally and actually using silent language for problem-solving. For example, the participants with ASD in our study were verbally able, yet did not use inner speech to support their planning."

Caroline Hattersley, Head of Information, Advice and Advocacy at the National Autistic Society, said: "This study presents some interesting results and could further our understanding of autism. If the findings are replicated on a wider scale they could have a significant impact on how we develop strategies to support children with the disability."

METHODS

In the study, 15 high-functioning adults with ASD and 16 comparison participants were asked to complete a commonly used task which measures planning ability, called the Tower of London task. This task consists of five coloured disks that can be arranged on three individual pegs. The aim of the task is to transform one arrangement of disks into another by moving the disks between the pegs, one disk at a time, in as few moves as possible. This type of complex planning task is helped by 'talking to yourself in your head'.

The participants did the task under normal conditions as well as under an 'articulatory suppression' condition whereby they had to repeat out loud a certain word throughout the task – in this case, either the word 'Tuesday' or 'Thursday'. If someone uses inner speech to help them plan, articulatory suppression prevents them from doing so and will detrimentally affect their planning performance, whereas it will have little impact on the planning performance of someone who doesn't use inner speech.

The results showed that whilst almost 90 per cent of normally developing adults did significantly worse on the Tower of London task when asked to repeat the word, only a third of people with autism were in any way negatively affected by articulatory suppression during the task. This suggests that, unlike neurotypical adults, participants with autism do not normally use inner speech to help themselves plan.

The participants also completed a short-term memory task to asses the use of inner speech in short-term recall.

The research was funded by a City University London Research Fellowship to the lead researcher.

CASE STUDY

Jude Ragan OBE is Headteacher at Queensmill School in London. Queensmill School is one of the largest state funded schools for children with autism which has over 100 pupils and is accredited by the National Autistic Society.

Jude Ragan OBE said: "Complex planning ahead is not a strength of people with autism which means, for people most severely affected, that they can only comprehend the here and now. This can be hugely stressful and at times quite frightening. Everything that we do in an ASD specific school is to help our pupils recognise when something they are doing might finish, what might happen next and so on. Encouraging inner speech is very much part of that as it can work as a life-long support.

"In order to encourage children to use inner speech, we start with visual timetables when they are in nursery. This will have pictures for different activities, such as a nappy for toilet time and a spoon for lunch. We will change this as the child progresses, to symbols, then symbols with words and then words only. By the time we are using written tick lists for the child to know what they are doing when, this will be accompanied by speech to begin to build the foundations for inner speech to solve problems.

"We can then ask the child questions such as 'What do you have next Tim? What will you need for that? Which room is it in? What happens after that? This is all scaffolding for inner speech which is naturally a more 'normal' way of planning and one that we would want a child to move to if they have the ability to do so.

"We also use 'parallel talk' whereby we play alongside the child and talk through what he or she is doing. That way, we are teaching them in a playful way to talk things through. We know that neurotypical children learn a great deal about how the world and social interaction works by naturally talking whilst they are playing but children with autism do not normally do this. It is important for us to show them how they can do that.

"Peer-reviewed research like this is very valuable as it informs the way we teach our pupils. As educators, we need to remind ourselves that whilst responding to visual cues is a strength of autism, we should never miss an opportunity to develop language, particularly inner language which I feel is more comfortable to a person with autism than spoken language."

More information: Source Inner speech is used to mediate short-term memory, but not planning, among intellectually high-functioning adults with autism spectrum disorder, Williams, Bowler and Jarrold, published by Cambridge University Press in Development and Psychopathology, January 2012.

Provided by Durham University

"Learning to 'talk things through in your head' may help people with autism." January 24th, 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-people-autism.html

 

Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek

HIV in Colombo !!! [MUST READ]

   *Dear Friends, *

Kindly take a couple of minutes to go thru this. If useful
may advise others also. Please pass this on to others This happened in *
Colombo *recently and may happen elsewhere also.

few weeks ago, in *Savoy film hall, *
a person felt something poking from her seat. When she got up
to see what it was, she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a
note attached saying "You have just been infected by HIV". The
Disease Control Center (in Colombo ) reports many similar events
in many other cities recently. All tested needles were HIV Positive.
The Center also reports that needles have been found in cash dispensers at *
public banking machines *. We ask everyone to use extreme caution when
faced with this kind of situation.
All public chairs/seats should be inspectedwith vigilance and caution
before use.
A careful visual inspection shouldbe enough. In addition, they ask that
each of you pass this message along to all members of your family
and your friends of the potential danger.
Recently, one doctor has narrated a somewhat similar instance
that happened to one of his patients at the *Contrast Cinema in Dalugama. *

A young girl, engaged and about to be married in a couple of months, was
pricked while the movie was going on. The tag with the needle had the
message " Welcome to the World of HIV family". Though the doctors told her
family that it takes about 6 months before the virus grows strong
enough to start damaging the system and a healthy victim could survive
about 5-6years, the girl died in 4 months, perhaps more because of the
"Shock thought". We all have to be careful at public places, rest God help!
Just think about saving a life by forwarding this message.. Please, take a
seconds of your time to pass along.


With Regards,
Kithsiri Nandasena
I.A.S, Director of Medical & Research Institue

Sri Lanka ..

haridwar mathura kashi shirade mein (songs on Sai Baba).MOHD.RAFI SAHAB