pointing out the obvious

Depression Linked with Hyperconnected Brain Areas

Brain regions may communicate excessively in depression

By Carrie Arnold

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EEG data reveal how tightly connected the frontal cortex (red) is to the rest of the brain in depression (left) and health (right).
Image: FROM “RESTING-STATE QUANTITATIVE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY REVEALS INCREASED NEUROPHYSIOLOGIC CONNECTIVITY IN DEPRESSION,” BY ANDREW F. LEUCHTER ET AL., IN PLOS ONE, VOL. 7, NO. 2; FEBRUARY 24, 2012

Like an overwhelmed traffic cop, the depressed brain may transmit signals among regions in a dysfunctional way. Recent brain-imaging studies suggest that areas of the brain involved in mood, concentration and conscious thought are hyperconnected, which scientists believe could lead to the problems with focus, anxiety and memory frequently seen in depression.
Using functional MRI and electroencephalography (EEG), psychiatrist Andrew Leuchter of the University of California, Los Angeles, and his colleagues measured the activity of depressed patients' brains at rest. They found that the limbic and cortical areas, which together produce and process our emotions, sent a barrage of neural messages back and forth to one another—much more than in the brains of healthy patients. These signals, Leuchter says, can amplify depressed people's negative thoughts and act like white noise, drowning out the other neural messages telling them to move on.
A separate study by psychiatrist Shuqiao Yao of Central South University in Hunan, China, produced a more nuanced view of these two areas' hyperconnectivity. In work published in Biological Psychiatry in April, Yao and his colleagues reported that stronger links among certain corticolimbic circuits are seen in patients more prone to rumination, the act of continuously replaying negative thoughts. Less connectivity in other corticolimbic circuits corresponded to autobiographical memory impairments, which is another common feature that appears in depression.
Scientists do not know whether these connectivity changes are a cause or an effect of depression. A study earlier this year in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, however, found that electroconvulsive therapy—formerly known as shock therapy—both alleviates depression's symptoms and decreases connectivity in the hub where the cortical and limbic systems intersect. These results, says lead author Jennifer S. Perrin, a psychologist at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, confirm that hyperconnectivity is a hallmark of depression in the brain and should provide a target for new drugs and treatments.

TLDR: Study shows that A factor of depression is the brain over thinking itself and blocking out its ability to see through the dark. 

um ..DUH! I thought this was a given?

hiatus

I know I have been rather light on the posts as of late.

With this ADD medicine i have been on the creative juices just dont juice the way they used to.
 That and everyday stress between work and looking for a second job to help pay the bills.
Then there is family life, of course.
It is hard to be creative when you have to spend a hour a day* listening to a stupid brain voice telling you how horrible you are. How you have failed in so many ways so many times.

Makes me want to stab my brain with a Qtip just to shut it up.

But never you mind fearless reader, I have some kernels at the bottom of the popcorn bag. Just waiting for them to finish popping.


  


*half an hour commute to work. each way, each day.

A must read

Created By TheirToys.com Sex Toys

And Lower we go

OK I really dont have much to add to this.
Oh I could rant and rave and marvel at how low humans have stooped to be able to call this crap entertainment but I really think it pretty much speaks for itself.
This show, I think its called Yogi and Boo Boo takes a crap in your brain or something like that, has gotta be on TV not because these people are interesting but just as a way of saying "Sweet Lucifer! Take a look at these fruit bats!"

afterthought

If ya'all are wondering yes Disney really came through for me. I then regaled them with this following email

Dear Disney World,
Simply put,  I cant thank you enough.
The ease in which this was handled has really just put me over the moon. I have been extolling the praises of Disney World for many years.
We were the 12 years ago and ever since then I have always exclaimed how wonderful the whole Disney experience is. I have always said how awesome it is that you can go up to any cast member and ask them the most inane question and they will react as if you are the first person to talk to them that day.
Then, 12 years later, having this experience has got me sold.
Barbie was ever so friendly and then to get a call from the merchandising group to tell me they were processing the request was unexpected and it actually made my day.
I'm sorry I do not mean to gush all over your inbox here but I am truly a fan. As someone who has worked in customer service in one aspect or another I know how difficult a job it can be.
I spent 45 minutes last Friday in my bosses office describing to him my experiences with Disney and how we should be sending people to Disney world just to see how customer service is supposed to be done right. I love how Disney doesn't go above and beyond for a guest. What anyone else would consider as above and beyond Disney calls it "just another day"
Once again thank you.
I know it will be quite some time before I will be able to afford to come back but someday, God willing,  I surely will.

The turtles were shipped and arrived on Tuesday.

I brought the kids together and had then open the box.

“Yeah I knew. I read your text messages.” said GIRL

“Yeah. I read your email. You should close your email folder.” said BOY

well that went over like gangbusters.

Not quite the shiny hero moment I was hoping for but ah well.

I tried.

Why I drink the Disney Kool-Aid.

As you may remember the whole Zombee clan went to the big WDW for a week.

One of the reasons I like Disney is each employee is there to make your experience the best it can be and boy when they get it right it is awesome.

For instance: Hotel Arcade: my niece lost her card to play the games and it had over 2000 points on it. She told the people that work there and boom an hour later they had located it and gotten it back to her.

That’s nothing.

We were at Epcot on Tuesday and we watched this neat lil show where Crush (the turtle from Finding Nemo) interacts and talks to the kids and teaches them a bit.

Cool tech and cool interaction.

Afterwards my kids decided they needed stuffed critters of Crush and his kid Squirt.

They were purchased, bagged and set in my mother’s lil cart for transport around the various countries in Epcot.

We made it through and as we were on the bus heading to the room it was discovered that that bag was missing.

Just plain gone.

This caused emotional distress to my Girl, who really wanted a memento of each experience and in a cascade effect, emotional distress to me as well.

My Boy was saddened but not as much. It’s a guy thing, I guess.

Anyway,

We left back for home on Friday I left a note and a tip in our room asking for help but nothing happened from that. Really didn’t expect it to but I had to try something.

I contacted Lost and Found a couple days later and struck out there as well.

Finally I contacted Disneyworld and explained the situation to them.

I Told them “hey we were just there and we dropped some serious coin. I explained that I understood they had no obligation at all to do anything but if they could just send me a couple of replacements that would be really nice.”

They called last night.

Talked to one of their reps there Barbara, she was ever so nice.

She just needed the SKU numbers so they knew exactly which ones to send.

No Muss.

No Fuss.

    Nothing more needed from me.

Just taking care of the customer even after the fact.

Now, everything cant be pancakes and peanut butter all the time but what we would consider as “the extra mile” or “added effort” Disney has already added that into their everyday functions.

And that is why I continue to drink the Disney Kool-Aid.

 

Overthinking the thinking

You know, it is really quite amazing with how much "WE" know how much we really dont.
First you have all the odd out there stuff UFOs, Big Foot, Atlantis.
Some are hoaxes some are..something else but no one really knows.
No matter what we do though we will always be in battle with our brain over what is real and what is imagined.
For instance:
I know how this little bit of movie magic is done and you can see it right there which part is a live person and which of it is a prop.

But no matter how many times I look at it and try to force my perspective I still just cant fully wrap my brain around the illusion.
My brain says "Yes I see that and there is the actress foot. Furthermore, its movie magic and therefore not real but nope I'm not buying it, the neck goes right to the head so it must be real."

Stupid brain