Another fascinating post over at Shrink Rap explores how learning sculpts the brains connections.

“Recent studies have shown that in the absence of any overt behavior, and even during sleep or anesthesia, the brain’s spontaneous activity is not random, but organized in patterns of correlated activity that occur in anatomically and functionally connected regions,” says senior author Maurizio Corbetta, M.D., Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology. “The reasons behind the spontaneous activity patterns remain mysterious, but we have now shown that learning causes small changes in those patterns, and that these changes are behaviorally important.” See the entire post at Shrink Rap.

Teen smoking linked to drinking and drug use is reported on Shrink Rap:

“If a teenager feels smoking is socially acceptable and widely practiced, they are much more likely not only to smoke, but to also drink and possibly use marijuana,” says lead author Dr. Jennifer A. Epstein, assistant professor of public health in the Division of Prevention and Health Behavior at Weill Cornell Medical College. “While the differences between how boys and girls are influenced by these social factors are subtle, they could help us develop new gender-specific educational tactics for preventing these behaviors.”…more at Shrink Rap

These two posts give some interesting insights and food for thought.

Depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents

Brain research transforming all human needs services

Some fascinating content that has been located in different corners of  the web:

Evidence Points to Conscious ‘Metacognition’ in Some Nonhuman Animals

“The field offers growing evidence that some animals have functional parallels to humans’ consciousness and to humans’ cognitive self-awareness…”

Adult Brain Can Change Within Seconds

“The human brain can adapt to changing demands even in adulthood, but MIT neuroscientists have now found evidence of it changing with unsuspected speed. Their findings suggest that the brain has a network of silent connections that underlie its plasticity…”

Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers

“Being a first year teacher can be overwhelming to say the least. There is new curriculum to learn, unfamiliar school policies, classroom management challenges, and new teammates. Technology can help to ease some of these first year growing pains…”

Maori legend of man-eating bird is true

“A Maori legend about a giant, man-eating bird has been confirmed by scientists. Te Hokioi was a huge black-and-white predator with a red crest and yellow-green tinged wingtips…”

Studies continue to develop an understanding that memory can be more unreliable than expected. Sometimes false memories can be developed or even implanted intentionally. Especially interesting is the notion of the partial memory that researchers are able to embellish with incidents that did not occur. The implications of this research are wide ranging for society as a whole and our industry in particular are fascinating.  For more details visit Shrink Rap.

Shrink Wrap blog shares an interesting post concerning a study that links teen drinking to behavioral problems.

“Forty-three per cent of students who reported behavioral or other problems also reported having been drunk more than 10 times in their lives, while only 27 per cent of students who reported few or no conduct problems had been drunk more than 10 times. But boys were only slightly more likely than girls to report drinking heavily.”

The difficulty parents have assessing the level of problem that substance abuse is causing for their troubled teen is well known.  Knowledge that such a link between behavioral problems and drinking exists can help parents to disentangle the complexity of the riddle they are facing.  The post notes:

“it may be particularly important to focus on teens with attention and conduct problems and girls with anxiety and depression.”

It speaks to our experience that the specific indicators of difficulty for troubled teen girls surrounding depression include a vulnerability to expressive drinking and substance abuse.

An recent article on US News and World Report explores an interesting study concerning teen depression and television usage:

“So, Brian Primack, a pediatrician at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who studies how teenagers’ use of media affects their health, analyzed survey data that followed 4,142 teenagers from 1995 to 2002. Teenagers who watched TV were more likely to report symptoms of depression, with the rate increasing 8 percent with every hour of TV watched.”

The needs of teens when it comes to depression are diverse, and one thing this study may be picking up on is the tendency for depressed individual to seek an escape from their problems.  For parents, its an interesting potential indicator to consider when monitoring the overall health of a child, especially struggling teens who seem prone to depression.

The book How to talk so teens will listen & listen so teens will talk has been passing through our office.  It presents some good advice about approaching the difficult subjects of sex and drugs with teens.  The simple take away: instead of one big talk, break the discussion up over a series of small interactions.

The strategy proves useful as we work with the struggling teens that attend the Family Foundation School.  The challenge is that it’s so easy for the adult to fall into the role of preacher, which in turn immediately alienates the younger person.  Often times a question can provide an opening.  Sometimes it’s a  an observation regarding the behaviors of others.  Suggested in the above mentioned book is using shared experience like viewing media like TV and movies as an opportunity to open a dialogue.   Always essential is that the young person know they are being listened to.

“If, however, you suspect that your teenager is already using drugs with some frequency, if you notice changes in behavior, grades, appearance, attitude, friends, sleeping patterns, or eating habits, then it’s time to take action: Let your child know what you’ve observed.  Listen to his or her side of the story.  Learn what ever you can about what’s really going on.  Call a local or national drug drug abuse program for additional information.  Consult your doctor.  Investigate whatever services are available in your community that can offer professional counseling and treatment.  In other words, get help.  You can’t do it alone.”  How to Talk so Teens will Listen…, pg. 186

Solid advice.  So often more damage gets done because asking for help gets put off till later.

In recovery, re-establishing trust is a difficult hurdle that most struggle accepting.  Often the time is takes for the healing sought exceeds what “seems” necessary.  Often time when this complaint gets shared, those further along the path of recovery will provide the gentle reminder “that you took years walking into the forest, it will take years to walk out.”

Trust and transparency are not just issues for those in recovery.

“A recent study out of Stamford suggests that, strictly speaking, the average individual shades the truth 3-4 times in a typical 10 minute conversation. Most of us do this in a misguided attempt to protect something – a relationship, a person, a situation, a perception, even ourselves. It is, in fact, a subtle and somewhat indirect form of agency and enabling that falls within the purview of co-dependent relationship.” Michael Formica, The Addict’s Dilemma, Pt. 2

But for the addict, this ability to shade tends to go to the extreme.  Hence the clear call that a program of recovery demands rigourous honesty.  It useful to consider that rigourous honesty is about being on guard from the shading of the truth.  Minimization and grandiosity are both forms of this shading which can quickly spin out of control into a web of lies if the addict is not vigilant in this matter.

An interesting video clip with Dr. Sanjay Gupta aired on CNN presenting the new screening question for the medical profession for alcoholism.

See it at Shrink Rap.