![ASI Wise & Sensory Project [Ayres Sensory Integration Education across Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England]](https://i0.wp.com/sensoryproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-Asi-wise_logo-01-1.jpg?fit=2362%2C2286&ssl=1){kind=logo}
Looking forward to following this new organisation, who appear to have some amazing resources from my first drop onto their website today.
https://www.ourteenbrains.org/
From their Founder…
The Teenage Brain – a great new resource
Category: Brain
Practice Update: The Brain and Covid-19
A great clip from the BBC – with input from Dr Susan Whitbourne who has been providing insight into our behaviours throughout this pandemic.
Creating Sensory Ladders online during telehealth has been one way OT’s across the UK have been supporting the mental health of children, teens, adults and students manage their health and well-being during COVID lockdown. You can see some of these and read more here. http://www.sensoryladders.org
If you have made a Sensory Ladder during Covid-19 you are happy to share, please post to our Sensory Ladder FB page community or send to us via our Contact Us link on this website.
‘But, in our brains, there’s a lot of screaming going on right now…’
Whitbourne, Susan (2020)
You can read the full article here.
https://www.magzter.com/article/Culture/The-Walrus/Your-Brain-on-COVID-19
Dr Whitbourne’s commentary and views about why some people felt and may still feel that they won’t be affected by this virus is fascinating and will help healthcare professionals understand why some people struggle with the idea of lockdown and guidance on social distancing. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/fulfillment-any-age/202004/why-do-some-people-think-theyre-invulnerable-covid-19
Research Update: Early Deprivation and Brain Development
A new article has been published which adds more to that we know about deprivation on development of the mind, body and brain.
Millions of children worldwide live in nonfamilial institutions. We studied impact on adult brain structure of a particularly severe but time-limited form of institutional deprivation in early life experienced by children who were subsequently adopted into nurturing families. Institutional deprivation was associated with lower total brain volume in a dose-dependent way. Regionally specific effects were seen in medial prefrontal, inferior frontal, and inferior temporal areas. Deprivation-related alterations in total brain volume were associated with lower intelligence quotient and more attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms; alterations in temporal volume seemed compensatory, as they were associated with fewer attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. We provide evidence that early childhood deprivation is related to alterations in adult brain structure, despite environmental enrichment in intervening years.
Read more here: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/01/1911264116
More articles here…
Enriched Environments as a Potential Treatment for Developmental Disorders: A Critical Assessment
The beneficial effects of enriched environments have been established through a long history of research. Enrichment of the living conditions of captive animals in the form of larger cages, sensory stimulating objects, and opportunities for social interaction and physical exercise, has been shown to reduce emotional reactivity, ameliorate abnormal behaviors, and enhance cognitive functioning. Recently, environmental enrichment research has been extended to humans, in part due to growing interest in its potential therapeutic benefits for children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). This paper reviews the history of enriched environment research and the use of enriched environments as a developmental intervention in studies of both NDD animal models and children. We argue that while environmental enrichment may sometimes benefit children with NDDs, several methodological factors need to be more closely considered before the efficacy of this approach can be adequately evaluated, including: (i) operationally defining and standardizing enriched environment treatments across studies; (ii) use of control groups and better control over potentially confounding variables; and (iii) a comprehensive theoretical framework capable of predicting when and how environmental enrichment will alter the trajectory of NDDs.
Read more here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00466/full
Early Adverse Experiences and the Developing Brain
Walking into the New Year
As we start the new year, with lots of hopes for a fresh start, often its the smallest most simple and achievable changes that work best.
Amy Fleming talks to neuroscientist Shane O’Mara who believes that plenty of regular walking unlocks the cognitive powers of the brain like nothing else. He explains why you should exchange your gym kit for a pair of comfy shoes and get strolling
“Our sensory systems work at their best when they’re moving about the world,” says O’Mara. Read more here
Research Update: Examining overlap and homogeneity in ASD, ADHD, and OCD: a data-driven, diagnosis-agnostic approach
“Our results motivate a paradigm shift to challenge how ASD, ADHD, and OCD are currently defined, diagnosed, and treated. In particular, this paper adds to the evidence that these diagnoses may not exist as uniquely-defined diagnostic constructs, and highlights the need to discover other groupings that may be more closely aligned with biology and/or response to treatment.”
So, this study by Kushki et al 2019 is by no means simple. However, the results support our clinical experience of the overlap and common features seen in practice. We see similar overlap is the assessment data we gather, particularly when we SIPT our clients with these diagnoses. The study uses state of the art technology and research methodologies, statistical calculations, and techniques I had never heard of. I had to look them up. However, the research appears to support what we see in clinical practice. I look forward to reading more by these researchers in Canada.
“…we used a data-driven, diagnosis-agnostic approach to examine overlap across three neurodevelopmental disorders (ASD, ADHD, and OCD)…we observed that differences in the domains primarily affected in these disorders may exist along a continuum that includes typical development.”
“The majority of the data-driven clusters contained participants from multiple diagnostic categories, highlighting shared phenotypes and neurobiologies among the diagnostic groups.”
“Social difficulties and inattention are commonly reported as shared features of ASD, ADHD, and OCD….our results support the emerging recognition that the existing behaviorally-defined diagnostic labels may not capture etiologically, biologically, and phenomenologically homogeneous groups.“
“…our results are consistent with the notion that that the ASD-like features, and to some extent inattention traits, exist across a continuum that includes typical development”
Read more here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0631-2
You must be logged in to post a comment.