Hi Reddit,
My name is Roger Lemon, I am a just-retired Professor of Neurophysiology at the Institute of Neurology, UCL, where I worked for 22 years, after university posts in Sheffield, Melbourne, Rotterdam and Cambridge. I am a Fellow and past Council Member of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
My main research interest is the control of skilled hand movements by the brain and is prompted by the need to understand why hand and finger movements are particularly affected by damage to the cortex, and its major descending pathways, for instance as a result of stroke, spinal injury and motor neuron disease. My experiments involve the use of purpose-bred non-human primates, since these provide the best available model for the human sensorimotor system controlling the hand.
My research is complemented by parallel studies in normal human volunteers and in patients: interactions between discoveries gained from work in monkeys and understanding the effects of neurological disorders on hand function in patients has been an important part of my career, especially when working at the Institute of Neurology, a world centre for the treatment of neurological disorders. I have helped to develop better ways of studying the human motor system, to understand the process of recovery after injury and to investigate therapies that might enhance recovery.
I am firmly of the opinion that we still need some research in monkeys to understand the complex functions of the human brain. This is fundamental research aimed at understanding normal brain function in, for example, learning, memory, emotion and, my own research area, motor skill. I believe that this work should only be carried out with careful regulation that ensures responsible, high-quality research and requires the highest possible welfare standards, driven by application of the 3Rs.
I am also keen to explain that without supporting this basic type of research, we will not get the translational benefits that results from a small but important fraction of the work that leads on to impact on the clinical conditions such as those listed above.
So I am a strong advocate for better engagement between scientists and the public about how we use animals in science, which has been vital for much of my own research.
This is my first AMA, I’m here to talk about the neuroscience of skilled movement, the miracle of the human hand, and how it is disrupted by dis
... keep reading on reddit ➡Fast, fast, fast everyone wants science to move fast including President Trump but the reality is it takes time to develop and get it right. The above quote from Dr. Savitz taken from the Uthealth Neuroscience Journal always takes me back to that reality. Years and years of work from leading researchers moved Multistem from concept to the Masters-2 Stroke Trial. No small task but all too easy to take for granted. As others cut corners to move at lightning speed, I can appreciate the years of dedicated research that moved Multistem from the lab to the Masters-2 Trial.
Pivotal Adult Stem Cell Trial for Stroke Underway at UTHealth Researchers led by Sean Savitz, MD, are testing a human bone marrow stem cell product to determine if it improves recovery after stroke. The Phase III study, titled MultiStem Administration for Stroke Treatment and Enhanced Recovery Study-2 (MASTERS-2), is evaluating MultiStem® cell therapy treatment of patients who have suffered an ischemic stroke. Over the past decade, Savitz has researched both autologous stem cells and allogeneic stem cell products. He conducted and published early preclinical studies of MultiStem and has enrolled the first UTHealth patients in MASTERS-2. “We take a lot of pride in this trial because it represents more than 10 years of work,” says Savitz, director of the Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease and professor of neurology at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth. “Testing MultiStem in our lab in an animal model helped us understand how some types of cell-based therapies work, and it also advanced our understanding of the mechanism of moderating the inflammatory response after stroke. Phase II clinical trials have shown it to be safe and effective for neu- rologic improvement and protection of the brain after stroke. MASTERS-2 is a definitive efficacy study, and we hope to determine if the product truly benefits patients.” The Phase III clinical trial, sponsored by Athersys, will enroll 300 patients in North America and Europe who have suffered moderate to moderate-severe ischemic stroke. Within 18 to 36 hours of stroke, study participants will receive either a single intravenous dose of MultiStem cell therapy or placebo, in addition to standard of care. Follow-up after infusion is 12 months. The primary endpoint will evaluate disability scores at three months. “Stroke is a leading cause of death and serious disability worldwide,” Savitz says. “Currently t
... keep reading on reddit ➡>Hello, Heffter Research.
>I am currently working on an email to send you with more details about my circumstances, but firstly, I would just like to offer a small summary to see if your institute takes any interest in my case. I have rhombencephalosynapsis, which is a neurological anomaly characterized by the fusion of the cerebellar hemispheres and a partial or complete absence of the cerebellar vermis (a part of the brain relating to motor skills, locomotion, and posture; mine is completely missing). There are around 1000 cases in the medical literature. I was born in 2000 and diagnosed in 2007, around which time there were only about 250 cases in the literature. The first diagnosis of a high-functioning individual with the anomaly was in 2005, although this was a late-aged man who had been perceived to be neurotypical for all of his life. The nature of why there are so few diagnoses, low and high-functioning, is likely in conjunction with the increasing abundance of MRI technology. Rhombencephalosynapsis can either be present alone or with other neurological malformations. I have bilateral malformations of my amygdala, hippocampus, and medial temporal lobes as well. I am one of the most lucky people known with these circumstances however-- I have lived a relatively normal life other than the psychological toil of having a rare neurological diagnosis like this which has resulted in mental illness. I was raised with very little knowledge about the extent of my neurology, only knowing that I was missing part of my brain but that other kids with the anomaly had seizures, strokes, self-injurious body movements, distorted physical appearances, incapacitated cognitive function, and the imminent risk of early death. My only problem was that I had a figure-eight head-shaking neurological tic which I have such "conquered" (I know how to repress it and hide it to make it look like natural neck jerks enough so that I just do it subconsciously at nearly 20 years of age).
>The usage of mushrooms is unlocking an intellectual version of me which is true to my childhood self, an intellectual side which I had been repressing for years. I tested at genius level as a toddler and by 3 or 4 I was perusing animal encyclopedias, able to pinpoint basically any animal from any kingdom in the book at my parents' whim like it was a party trick. I was developing completely adaptive to my circumstances prior to my diagnosis-- behaviorally and intellectually, I stood ou
... keep reading on reddit ➡
LINK: https://n.neurology.org/content/96/18/848.full
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000011850
Couldn't get it through libgen or Google Scholar. Thanks in advance!
At 6:35, Dr Koroshetz actually says “we have struggled to get 3 or 4 applications for grants“ [for MECFS] Does he think anyone actually believes that?? No wonder MECFS research has not advanced with these people in charge at NIH!
on the other hand, Dr King asks some good questions.
Hello people, I'm a resident in neurology (2nd year),
I was asked to contribute to a small paper about the future of neurology, my assignment is specifically about expected changes the field in light of demographic changes, i.e. population growth, aging population, etc. (globally speaking)
Some ideas would be, increased load of dementia obviously, maybe an increase in oncological medication related neurological illnesses, I may also talk about a shift in the focus in 3rd world countries from infectious diseases (meningoencephalitis) to other sorts of neurological diseases... I'm trying to think of other issues that would be interesting (and I'm having some trouble)
I was thinking maybe people here would have an idea or two about something that would be interesting to discuss in the paper
any thoughts?
I'm afraid I must say I have little to no interest in the traditional "philosophical stances" regarding free will. In my view, we may as well consult the book of Genesis to study geology and biology. Philosophical positions are little more than opinions based on one's own reasoning, which is largely based on similar reasoning from long expired philosophers. Virtually all philosophical "arguments" in favour of "free will" can be distilled down to abstract positions and who said what. Few of them - if any - actually examine the "territory" itself; the brain. Or in other words, the reasoning is based on flawed or incomplete premises. The best logical reasoning in the world will lead to wrong answers if based on faulty or incomplete premises
https://tamingthepolarbears.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-illusion-of-free-will.html?m=1
I am an MS3 who is planning to apply into neurology. With the way medical education is these days I feel like the bulk of my studying comes from doing uworld practice problems. These are great for preparing for exams but I kind of feel like they have made my understanding of neurology (and other topics) into more of a "patchwork" and in a way damage my base fundamental understanding of the topic and neuroanatomy.
Can anyone suggest a good text that I could read to re-inforce my base of Nero knowledge before starting residency in a year? I feel like I'm losing the more holistic/global understanding that I had at the end of my pre-clinical neuro courses and I want to claw it back before its all gone.
Bonus points for specific examples or interesting clinical trials in progress.
Has anyone been to either of these clinics?
How was your experience? Did you need a referral?
SS: this is a direct response to Richard Dawkins' tweet in which he said that 'of course' eugenics would work in practice. To be clear, Dawkins later said 'I deplore the idea of a eugenic policy' and 'A eugenic policy would be bad' but maintained that it was something which could still work in practice. Richard Dawkins was a major figure from the New Atheist 'movement' of which Harris was also a prominent figure, and has been a frequent collaborator/guest of Harris over the years. This subject also relates to the issue of scientists being able to speak freely about controversial or 'taboo' topics, something Harris considers an important issue.
Here a senior genetics researcher at UCL has responded to Dawkins' idea that eugenics would work. The thread is as follows:
> I work on human genetics and am honorary professor at the UCL Genetics Institute. I’m the editor-in chief of a journal which used to be called Annals of Eugenics. I just wanted to say that we now know from the latest research that eugenics simply would not work.
> I have published hundreds of scientific papers on human genetics including on intellectual disability, mental illness and the predictive ability of genetic. You can view the list here: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=Vrr4Ig0AAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
> Let’s say that the aim of eugenics is to intervene at a societal level to improve the genetic stock of the population, for example to eliminate undesirable characteristics or to produce average increases in the values of desirable traits.
> Animals are bred in controlled environments and have short generational times with large numbers of offspring. In these circumstances selective breeding can produce desired changes in a small number of specific traits such as milk yield or racing performance.
> So why wouldn’t it work in humans? Let me start by saying that there have been tremendous advances on our knowledge on this subject in just the last couple of years and our understanding has changed a lot.
> My claims are based on results of genetic epidemiological studies of hundreds of thousands of people, such as UK Biobank, and sequencing studies of many thousands of people. These results have emerged recently and many commentators may not fully appreciate them.
> There are a number of di
... keep reading on reddit ➡Hi there!
We are looking for participants to take part in our decision making study. The study will take place at The Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, 17-19 Queen Square, London, UK. It is a two-part study (each part will be completed on different days).
Session 1 will consist of some self-report questionnaires and short, structured interviews about your mood, personality and mental health. This session determines your eligibility to take part in Session 2 and may last between 1-2 hours.
Session 2 will consist of a number of computerised tasks where you will be asked to make decisions about whether you want to take a given challenge or make a given gamble. You will make these decisions under the prospect of gaining or losing money.
This session will last approximately 2 hours.
You may participate if you:
-have NO history of neurological disorders
-are 18 to 60 years old
You will receive £7.50 per hour for the first session and £20 for the second session + a bonus of up to £20 depending on your performance on the tasks in the second session.
If you are interested, please fill out a short survey to establish your eligibility at https://redcap.idhs.ucl.ac.uk/surveys/?s=8MGYgeoWKL[1]
Once the form is filled out and if you are eligible to take part, we will contact you by phone/email to book a testing session.
This study has been approved by the UCL Departmental Research Ethics Committee.
Thank you for helping out with our research!
Just a little positive post to remind us all that our boys in blue have been doing absolutely amazing!
Most football pundits & fan reactions are quick to judgment and slander, but don't forget how Chelsea are reigning Champions of Europe and Super Cup Winners. I won't forget those victories for a long time!
As for this year, we're the club that got hit the most significantly with injuries, specifically to our two most important wingbacks in Tuchels formation/system. (Chilly-Con-Carn-no-longer Well and the Stamford Fridge). Other than them, it's a huge list of big stars who have been a revolving door, taking turns in being out in key games- Kante, T.Silva, Havertz, Werner, Challabah, Christensen, the list goes on (injuries was also widely accepted as the reason why Liverpool shit the bed last year, all things considered, we're doing great maintaining our place in second)!
We've also had loads players out with positive covid in December (aka the cursed Chelsea month), yet received no sympathy from the FA, who didn't delay a single game, and made Chelsea power on through, leading to exhaustion with consistent games, leading to more injuries etc, etc. Whereas the main title rivals Manchester City have had pretty much no injuries, and Liverpool who did get covid, got a significant amount of time off to recover.
If I had to pick between winning last years Champions League or this years Premier League...I pick Champions League every time.
Second in the League, is a HUGE improvement from Chelseas league performances in the last few years. Losing to the mega power of Manchester City should be expected whilst we continue to build.
Carabao Cup - We haven't won since 2015, but we are in the freaking Final! Wooooo!!!
Club World Cup - As Champions of Europe, we get a shot at a trophy that the club has never won! Woooo!
FA Cup - Well we all know we're gonna get screwed out of this one in some creative way, we have had dodgy red cards, given by a certain inept bald official, for our player Kova being the one who was fouled, injuries to our best players on the field (RIP Pedro) and most recently, for some reason, handballs were also allowed to assist in goal scoring opportunities. Though armpits were deemed offside by VAR. But hey, at least we can get screwed in a new unique way this time! Woooooo?
Basically, we support a great team which is fighting through significant adversities. They have achieved big successes, which other clubs fans can only dr
... keep reading on reddit ➡
I've been reading Oliver Sacks' books and also The emotional brain by Jospeh LeDoux and found them super interesting. Does someone have more recommendations? Case studies or just scientific research all is welcome as long as it is not too old (too much research has been added) or of course not reliable
Thoughts?
