Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
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#5Thoughts Friday
The
Edition
04/15/2022
BIAMD Annual Conference
"Moving Forward Together"

May 12, 2022—May 13, 2022


DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Baltimore North - Pikesville
1726 Reisterstown Road
Pikesville, MD 21208

The Conference "Moving Forward Together" is a multi-track neuro-conference focusing on issues related to: individuals with brain injury and family members, children and adolescents in the school system, advocacy, and professional and clinical training. The purpose of the two-day conference is to provide state-of-the-art information about brain injury treatment, services, research, and advocacy and to improve collaboration and networking between individuals with brain injury, families and professionals.

We will be IN PERSON at the Doubletree in Pikesville, MD.

We are applying for the Following CEUs:
  • ATRA  
  • Certified Case Managers  
  • LCPC 
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Physical Therapy 
  • Psychology 
  • Registered Nurse
  • Social Work 
  • Speech & Language Pathologists  
  • Workers Compensation  

CLICK HERE - For More Information

CLICK HERE - To Register

CLICK HERE - For Sponsorship Opportunities

CLICK HERE - To Nominate an Individual for the Alicia Cignatta Spirit of Independence Award
The human brain is organized in functional networks—connected brain regions that communicate with each other through dedicated pathways. That is how we perceive our senses, how the body moves, how we are able to remember the past and plan for the future. The "default mode" network is the part of our connected brain that is responsible for abstract and self-directed thought. When we process external sensory information, the default mode network turns off, and when there is less going on outside our bodies it turns on. Whether the same default mode network is found in mammals similar to humans has not been firmly answered; different studies have yielded different conclusions.

In an international collaboration across seven laboratories, in five institutions, across three countries and led by Christos Constantinidis, professor of biomedical engineering, neuroscience and ophthalmology, and Clément Garin, postdoctoral fellow in the Constantinidis lab, researchers compared data from humans and non-hominoid primates (macaques, marmosets and mouse lemurs) to more definitively answer this question.
CLICK HERE to read more on the unexpected findings.

The return of consciousness after traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains something of a mystery for scientists and is not easy to predict. A series of recently published studies by researchers in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University has found that by using technologies to monitor brain functions after TBI, scientists may be able to better predict who will "wake up" after TBI and what brain circuits to target to potentially treat disorders of consciousness.

Humans are capable of an infinite variety of behaviors, so short-term prediction of human behavior is impossible. By studying brain injury patients in detail, co-authors Sima Mofakham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Charles Mikell, MD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, have identified the brain circuits required for unpredictable behavior, which they think is a core feature common to human consciousness. Their research involves colleagues within their jointly run Neurosurgery laboratory, and collaborators nationally.

"After brain injury, unconscious and semi-conscious patients don't do much, they don't engage in goal-oriented behavior, and their behaviors are highly predictable," says Dr. Mikell.

CLICK HERE for more on this story.

The HobbleJog Foundation was created to help improve the quality of life for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Our primary focus is to support proven and innovative post-acute services that strengthen the independence, productivity, and well-being of TBI survivors.

We provide grants on a national scale to qualified organizations that provide post-acute resources. Post-acute services include but are not limited to; technology services to assist in the regaining of memory, focus, and goal-setting functions, neuropsychological evaluations and interventions, adjustment counseling services, stress interventions, vocational training, transitional home, and community support.

For 2022, the HobbleJog Board has agreed
to award two grants of $5,000 each. 

The deadline for applications has been
extended to TODAY April 15, 2022. 

CLICK HERE for more info.

CLICK HERE to apply online.
I know that neurodiversity is a huge umbrella that includes many different types, including autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, sensory integration disorder, dysgraphia, synesthesia, anxiety, and many others. For the sake of this topic, I’m going to simplify it into “thinking and processing information in ways that may not be typical of how most people think and process information.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot because with everything that’s been going on and how stressed everyone is, I’ve been seeing a lot more conflicts in the sector. Some of it is heartbreaking, including conflicts I’m involved in, with and among people I care deeply about.

Unfortunately, the conflict-resolution tools and techniques we’ve been relying on don’t always work, or are actually making things worse, because these tools and techniques were designed with neurotypical people in mind, with the grounding assumptions that everyone involved in the conflict will have the same thought patterns, the same way of absorbing, interpreting, and communicating information.

CLICK HERE for Vu's important perspective on this increasingly important topic.
2) What We are Reading This Week
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people's minds--and our own. As Wharton's top-rated professor and the bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, he makes it one of his guiding principles to argue like he's right but listen like he's wrong. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners.  Think Again reveals that we don't have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It's an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don't know is wisdom.

CLICK HERE for more.
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1) Quote We are Contemplating
"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!"

Looking for Something fun to do in Maryland this weekend?



 Click the picture below and discover a world of possibilities!
Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash

HAVE A WONDERFUL
HOLIDAY WEEKEND.


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 Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.