Testing of drugs' effects on attention deficit disorder

In the last twenty years many disorders have entered the field of mental health disorders. Among them the most popular are : Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Progressively many mental deficiencies, some of them mild like reading disorder, find their way in the book of Mental Health disorders. Attention deficit disorder is characterized by lack of focus, concentration or attention. ADHD has the same characteristics with the difference of the addition of the letter H which stands for Hyperactivity. The latter disorder is known in children who are hyperactive and have difficulties concentrating in schools. Both disorders affect adults and children . The irony of this is many bright adults have been told to suffer ADD. A well known and bright medical doctor reported in a book he wrote about ADD that he suffered of this disorder. There are four main ways to study behavior.: cognitive, behaviorist, psychoanalytic and biological.In the mental health field more emphasis is put on the biological aspect. Moreover alternative medicine offer nutritional solutions to these types of disorders. There are also other techniques like relaxation, meditation, visualization and spiritual solutions acknowledged by some researchers. There is never only one way to solve a problem. There might be several effective ways to solve a problem. In the treatment of behavior it is worth to explore a combination of effective alternative and traditional treatments or use the least harmful effective ones. Generally drugs related treatment have side effects. Why not educate oneself on the benefits of alternative treatments and research the advice of alternative treatments specialists?

 In the field of mental and physical health prevention is key. Education is important. Children and adults need to know healthy behaviors. These behaviors have to be known in early childhood and every parent should know them to teach to their children. Study skills, healthy nutrition, physicl education,  moral, logic are among the basics that should be known early in life.

In he field of traditional medicine researchers at Washington university School of Medicine have found that raising dopamine levels in mice brains can alleviate attention deficit in mice affected by neuro- fibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a condition that affect 100,000 people in United States. It is reported that 60% to 80% of children with NF1 have some type of attention deficit.

"Symptoms of NF1 related attention deficits are similar to those that affect children in the general population. But it is unclear whether the brain changes that underlie these problems in children with NF1 are similar to the brain changes that cause attention deficits in the general population" (Science Daily).
The Science Daily article  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111014104944.htm#.Tppwlyu5z-V.blogger

Yves Simon, Educator 

What would be the implications of the use of the world's biggest human brain map in the cure of diseases?

This scientific breakthrough in the study of the human brain is important in the prevention and cure of diseases because of the high percentage of genes found in the human brain. It is then assumed that any deficient organ of the body would  refer the study of its deficiency to the analysis of the genes of the brain . This may facilitate other studies of the cure of diseases by growing new cells in the deficient organ and not using medication.  A genetic analysis can also help the prevention of disease. Can some incurable diseases like Alzheimer, cancers, etc  be definitely treated.?. If such high percentage of genes is found in the human brain the latter is then the orchestra chief of all the parts of the human body. Another assumption would be that if the brain is healthy the rest of the body would be so. If this assumption is true and if the brain is the home of the mind the psychosomatic nature of illnesses or diseases is corroborated. Mindfully speaking a positive outlook of life influences one's overall health including that of the body.

Yves Simon, Educator

World's biggest human brain map unveiled

Hayley Crawford, reporter
(Images: Allen Institute for Brain Science)
The world's biggest computerised map of the brain was released yesterday by scientists at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, in Seattle, Washington, after more than four years of cutting-edge research.
The Human Brain Atlas is an interactive research tool that will help scientists to understand how the brain works and aid new discoveries in disease and treatments.
The information used to build it comes from the analysis of two human brains, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a variation of MRI called diffusion tensor imaging.
Allan Jones, the CEO of the institute, told Wired how the brains were also chopped up into small pieces, and RNA extracted from the tissue. They used this RNA to obtain a read-out of the 25,000 genes in the human genome.
All this information was put together to create a detailed map of the brain. One thousand anatomical sites in the brain can be searched, supported by more than 100 million data points that indicate the gene expression and biochemistry of each site.
For example, a researcher could quickly create a 3D snapshot (see image below) of all the locations in the brain where Prozac's biochemical targets are expressed.
  The researchers found a striking 94 per cent similarity in the biochemistry between the two brains, and     discovered that at least 82 per cent of all human genes are expressed in the brain.
Allan says this isn't too surprising: When you think about the complexity of the functions of the brain, and the variety of different cell types found within the brain, it's not quite as surprising to see how much of the genome is used to serve the brain
Both brains used in the $55 million project were male, which prompted The Wall Street Journal to ask why a woman's brain had not been included. Allan told Bloomberg that eligible brain donors usually die from accidental causes or cardiac arrest, both of which disproportionately affect men. However, he says the project is currently processing a female brain, and that ultimately, the facility will run at least 10 brains through the process.
Other researchers are also attempting to map neural connections in a mouse brain, something MRI cannot do. They will turn slices of brain into digital images by an automated electron microscope. A computer will read those images, trace the outlines of nerve cells, and stack the pictures into a 3D reconstruction. Maps like these have limitless potential in drug discovery and human genetics and will no doubt be an essential step forward in the fight against disease.