Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.

Brain reorganization takes place by mechanisms such as “axonal sprouting” in which undamaged axons grow new nerve endings to reconnect neurons whose links were injured or severed. Undamaged axons can also sprout nerve endings and connect with other undamaged nerve cells, forming new neural pathways to accomplish a needed function.

For example, if one hemisphere of the brain is damaged, the intact hemisphere may take over some of its functions. The brain compensates for damage in effect by reorganizing and forming new connections between intact neurons. In order to reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated through activity.

Neuroplasticity sometimes may also contribute to impairment. For example, people who are deaf may suffer from a continual ringing in their ears (tinnitus), the result of the rewiring of brain cells starved for sound. For neurons to form beneficial connections, they must be correctly stimulated.

via Neuroplasticity In The Brain – Dr. Norman Doidge.

Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) don’t dwell on why things go wrong in our lives. We are too busy moving on to the next shiny thing. ADD/ADHD medication helps us slow down our racing thoughts, so we can ask, “Is this the best thing for me to be doing?” or “Is this the right thing to say?” Writing about our ADD/ADHD lets us take things to a higher level. We can analyze our behaviors — and misbehaviors — and pinpoint how ADD/ADHD symptoms contribute to the problems in our lives.

I used to come home from work, in my dress clothes and high heels, and head straight to my rock garden to weed. After an hour, my dress was soiled, my stockings ripped, and my shoes trashed. Writing about this impulsive habit allowed me to see my behavior objectively. It made me realize I should change my clothes before working in the yard. Of course, making that discovery didn’t make clothes-changing a habit. I had to train my brain to get into my gardening garb.

The more I write about my ADD/ADHD challenges, the more I learn about why things — at work, in relationships — don’t go well. Writing makes me examine something I used to accept as another bad day, instead of just replaying the day in my mind and chastising myself for poor performance. Over time, writing has reduced the burdens of falling short of my own, or other people’s, expectations by giving me the perspective to make changes.

via Treat Attention Deficit Disorder Symptoms Through Writing | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Help and Info — ADDitude.

Train The Brain: Using Neurofeedback To Treat ADHD : NPR.

The link above references an interesting piece on NPR about how neurofeedback can be used to treat ADD/ADHD:

Even though there are studies now showing that neurofeedback works for ADHD, all of these studies have serious limitations, researchers say. So the approach remains promising but unproved, says David Rabiner, a researcher at Duke University who writes a newsletter about treatments for ADHD…

A team at The Ohio State University has nearly completed a pilot study of neurofeedback for ADHD that was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

The team had hoped to announce results last week at a scientific meeting in New York, but Gene Arnold, one of the scientists in charge of the study, says they had to delay that announcement because “we weren’t able to get the results analyzed in time,” he says.

Learning Breakthrough and the vestibular-cerebellar training approach to ADHD remediation more generally have been considered by the research team at Ohio State University as well. Our interest in the topic stems from the substantial neurofeedback aspect to the Learning Breakthrough Program…as the repetitive nature of LBP’s balance exercises themselves generate what the user in this article calls “constant feedback during a session” through constant motor control monitoring, planning, executive function modulation, and hemispheric integration all in one system. There is much hope that as this research progresses and the pilot study information is collated that LBP will be tested along side on neurofeedback techniques and a control group.

Auditory processing disorder in relation to developmental disorders of language, communication and attention: a review and critique – International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders.

This article describes the vagaries of diagnosis of auditory processing issues and shows how important work is being done to help make proper evaluations and treatment research widely available. It is not definitive but is a useful article for those orienting themselves to CAPD issues.

Background: Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) does not feature in mainstream diagnostic classifications such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV), but is frequently diagnosed in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and is becoming more frequently diagnosed in the United Kingdom.

Aims: To familiarize readers with current controversies surrounding APD, with an emphasis on how APD might be conceptualized in relation to language and reading problems, attentional problems and autistic spectrum disorders.
Methods & Procedures: Different conceptual and diagnostic approaches adopted by audiologists and psychologists can lead to a confusing picture whereby the child who is regarded as having a specific learning disability by one group of experts may be given an APD diagnosis by another. While this could be indicative of co-morbidity, there are concerns that different professional groups are using different labels for the same symptoms.
Conclusions & Implications: APD, as currently diagnosed, is not a coherent category, but that rather than abandoning the construct, we need to develop improved methods for assessment and diagnosis, with a focus on interdisciplinary evaluation.

via The Role of Brain Fitness in Self Help Programs:

All of those programs involve regular practice of certain behaviors, and there are three behaviors we humans can hope to manage or control, our thinking, our feelings, and our behaviors, or how our body moves.

If you have read Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s book FLOW, which is treatise on the psychology of optimal performance, then you know that we process sound, visual, touch, smell, and taste information at the rate of seven bits of data every 1/18th second, so self help programs need to be learned and implemented in a very short period of time. (1/18th second is twice as fast as I can blink my eyes).

Self help then must be a process of awareness and management of sensory processing done very quickly and very frequently.

I liken the process for my anger management clients to steering a car, you make thousands of small adjustments to the position of the vehicle on the road, and are paying attention to hundreds of variables at a given moment, traffic in front, behind, traffic lights, children, the policeman six blocks ahead, ect. As you do this, you keep the vehicle going in the direction you want, at the speed you want, in a safe way for yourself and other drivers. You avoid potholes.

The blog post linked to below talks about Dr. Charles Parker, psychiatrist and ADHD expert. I have spoken with Dr. Parker on a couple of occasions and he was quite gracious in looking at our program. He was helpful, open minded and great to listen to as I was getting more involved in the science behind brain fitness topics. As will many psychiatrists with expansive minds and reading lists, he was never closed minded in his approach to LBP even though he never decided “take it on” or make it more central to his studies. I recall spending a great deal of time learning about SPEC imaging and other empirical methods based on reading from his blog and last year got to enjoy his presentation to the Virtual ADHD conference. Nice article and best wishes to Dr. Parker. Thanks to Moms With ADD/ADHD site for the posting.

ADHD Medication Rules: Paying Attention To The Meds For Paying Attention – Moms With ADD/ADHD.

Use It or Lose It: The Theory and Practice of Brain Exercise and Fitness for Cognitive Health – 1252th Edition | Health Blog.

When we exercise our brains, we put our Neurons and connections between neurons in action.

Given the diversity of functions outlined above, it is clear that different activities are going to activate different brain areas, which scientists now know thanks to neuroimaging techniques. There is no one magic bullet that is best (either crosswords puzzles, or computer-based programs, or physical exercise): we do need a variety of mental stimulation or “brain exercises”.

There have been a lot of articles on Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) are out this week and I posted links via previous posts to a couple of good definitional articles. The article below is noteworthy because it goes into an even more useful discussion of how SPD relates to and is yet distinct from Autism (pointing out clearly that “although a sensory processing disorder is not considered a qualifying characteristic for a diagnosis of autism, I have yet to meet a person on the autism spectrum who does not have a challenge in this area.”)

What is Sensory Processing Disorder and How Is It Related to Autism? | Psychology Today.

The author also reminds us of the effort to have SPD included in the next Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is currently being drafted, and which we described as a really important step in our posting from March 4:

DSM-5 Being Updated.

The person leading that effort is Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR and Founder of the SPD Foundation, who has recommended our program:

“The Learning Breakthrough Program is helpful to enhance clinical therapy for a wide range of sensory processing issues. The unique program lends itself to use with a variety of therapeutic approaches. Its ease of use allows your patients to follow through with therapeutic activities at home. I have integrated this program into my practice and encourage fellow OT’s to take advantage of the benefits this program has to offer.”

SPD is a difficult topic/diagnosis for people to get their heads around; parents, teachers, scientists, therapists…lots of people. But the awareness is growing that SPD it is a unique neurological disorder that impacts many people in important cognitive areas. Addressing SPD is an important part of any treatment program for those on the spectrum.

We strongly advocate a unique DSM classification for Sensory Processing Disorder. We have seen how the Learning Breakthrough Program has produced substantial results when used to treat sensory disorders and a is wonderful complement to other therapies. This goes well beyond addressing just SPD symptoms…the point is that improved sensory processing affects higher order cognitive processes and abstract reasoning well beyond the simple notion of a “traffic jam” in the senses – the simplified definition often associated with SPD.

Want to read a serious post that tries to give a good working definition of sensory processing disorder…take a look at this one. There is some opinion thrown in, but the information is very well described and useful for those looking for a good topical way to think about the term “SPD.”

Hartley’s Life With 3 Boys: What is Sensory Processing Disorder?.

Found this article with commentary and tips. many you may have heard before but regardless, reminders that keep us focused on the most important themes are always useful and I enjoyed the article as well. As an example, I found the homework advice a good refresher…

This is also first test of Zej’s new tool recommendation of “Press This” for fast publishing of links and just raw text from any source. Excellent tool for efficient publishing.

ADHD Special Education Teacher’s Best Advice | Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Help & Info.