Your Weekly Dose of #5ThoughtsFriday: A description of what we think is important at BIAMD
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#5Thoughts Friday
The
Edition
03/18/2022
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  
  • CRC ​
  • 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

Photo by Spencer Selover from Pexels
 Early life experiences may affect neural wiring patterns that can lead to the development of ASD, schizophrenia, and epilepsy later in life, a new study reports.
A new study of brain development in mice shortly after birth may provide insights into how early life events can affect wiring patterns in the brain that manifest as disease later in life – specifically such disorders as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism.

Researchers focused on two types of brain cells that have been linked to adult neurological disorders: neurons in a modulating system nestled deep in the brain and other neurons in the cortex, the brain’s outermost layer, that counteract excitation in other cells using inhibitory effects. The modulating cells send long-range cables to the cortex to remotely influence cortical cell activity.

The study is the first to show that these two types of cells communicate very early in brain development. A chemical released from the modulating cells initiates the branching, or arborization, of axons, the long, slender extensions of nerve cell bodies that transmit messages, on the cortical cells – and that arborization dictates how effective the cells in the cortex are at doing their job.
CLICK HERE to learn more about neuronal interactions.

CLICK HERE to read the journal article.
Photo by David Garrison from Pexels
Stress seems to have a negative effect on the learning of movements—at least in mice. This is the conclusion of a recent study at the University of Bonn.

According to the study, the neurons of rodents lose some of their contacts with other neurons after stress. The animals also developed motor deficits. The results may be useful for earlier diagnosis and improved therapy of stress-related diseases such as depression.

They also document that stress leaves traces in the brain—possibly permanent ones.

The study appeared in the journal Translational Psychiatry.
Chronically stressed people often show abnormalities in their motor skills, such as poorer fine motor control. However, how these symptoms occur has hardly been studied so far. “We investigated this question in our study,” explains Prof. Dr. Valentin Stein from the Institute of Physiology II at the University of Bonn.

CLICK HERE for more on the study.

CLICK HERE to read the journal article.

Frustrated with your TBI? Like video games?
Join the Johns Hopkins Video Game research study!

Participate in a Hopkins Research Study to Help Us Understand Whether Video Games Can Promote Health and Activity in Patients with TBI

  • 12 weeks
  • 3 hours per week.
  • Complete the study and receive $210!

Call 443.530.4733 or email oceanstbi@gmail.com for more information.
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
Study reveals how brain areas work together to train and perform a practiced skill.
Learning a complex skilled movement like tying your shoes or playing an instrument takes practice. After repeating the same movements over and over, people often develop a formulaic way of performing the task, and may not even have to think about it anymore. Although we accomplish such repetitive tasks every day, little is known about how the brain learns, repeats, and perfects them.

Now, a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and his colleagues at Harvard University, have shown in rats how several brain regions need to work together to acquire a skill and replicate it flawlessly with each rat adding their own personal flair in the form of a “dance.”
 Their study was published on February 25, 2022, in Science Advances.

“Besides following our basic curiosity to figure out how the brain works and how we learn movements, our work has many direct applications. Understanding the conditions under which healthy brains learn informs how people should train for highly skilled activities like certain sports,” said Steffen Wolff, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

“More importantly, one day hopefully the insights gathered from this basic research program will help people with brain damage or diseases that affect movements.”

CLICK HERE for more on this new study.

CLICK HERE for the Science Advances Journal article.
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 is 12:00 AM ET,
on March 31, 2022. 

CLICK HERE for more info.

CLICK HERE to apply online.

2) What We are Reading This Week
This is a true story with a happy ending of the author’s journey through brain damage. She takes the reader on the journey with her from the onset of a headache, to brain surgery, to being unable to work for a few years, and finally to a place that one would consider as back to normal life, all while filling in anecdotes of how she got to the point where the stress of her life broke her brain in the first place.

 It is a light read filled with some humor, some sadness, some fear, some hope, mixed in with some life lessons picked up along the way.
CLICK HERE to see more.
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1) Quote We are Contemplating
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.”

Looking for Something fun to do in Maryland this weekend?



 Click the picture below and discover a world of possibilities!
Photo by Анна Хазова from Pexels
HAVE A WONDERFUL
HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE COVID-19 VACCINE BY GETTING VACCINATED and GETTING THE BOOSTER.

THE LIFE YOU SAVE
MAY BE YOUR OWN.

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 Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful weekend.