Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders in communication

Abstract

A specially designed Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy module was applied to Autism Spectrum Disorders over a period of two academic years. Despite low numbers (six in each arm), consistency and magnitude of effects make the findings significant. Parental participation, allowing firm guidance to be given to each child, resulted in significant improvements in imitation and other skills, and in behavior at home and family relationships. We hypothesize that guided imitation of therapist body positions stimulated mirror neuron activation, resulting in improved sense of self.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, communication, integrated approach to yoga therapy, social and imitation skills

Radhakrishna S, Nagarathna R, Nagendra HR. Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders. J Ayurveda Integr Med [serial online] 2010 [cited 2011 Oct 10];1:120-4. Available from: http://www.jaim.in/text.asp?2010/1/2/120/65089

NATURAL INTERACTIONS: MY THESIS PROJECT ON ALZHEIMER COMMUNICATION

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is clinically defined as a degenerative cerebral pathology, the cause of which is unknown. It affects the superior levels of cognitive functioning and is characterized by multiple deficits that compromise the mental and social functioning of the individual. From a sociocognitive and interactional approach, this project deals with the pragmatic dimension of the study of Alzheimer discourse.
The main aims are: 1) to investigate how people in a mild and moderate Alzheimer’s are able to construct a subjective representation about the ongoing context, and 2) to assess what structures of discourse show Alzheimer features, owing to an impairment of knowledge representation about the others recipients in talk.
The study will be based on a qualitative and ethnographic analysis of human interaction structures in real world-settings. The project will assess how memory systems and attentional processes interact with the abiltity to construct a mental representation about the ongoing context.

ALZHEIMER - Para comprender mejor a las personas que lo padecen

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http://www.rtve.es/television/20110511/azote-del-alzheimer/431856.shtml

AAICAD 2011

Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease 2011

Porte de Versailles - Paris, France
July 16-21, 2011

Call for Abstracts: November 2, 2010 – February 1, 2011

Submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations, plus a select number of featured research symposia sessions. Opportunities also include the Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium (AIC), a special one-day preconference event.

Submit your abstract now.

AAICAD 2011

Topics of Interest

• Biology of amyloid, tau, inflammation and other neurodegenerative mechanisms
• Epidemiology and risk factors
• Genetics and genetic testing
• Diagnosis, biomarkers, neuroimaging and clinical course of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders
• Therapeutic strategies
• Cellular and animal models
• Molecular and cellular processes and pathologies
• Social, behavioral and care research
• Prevention
• And more

MEMORY AND EMOTIONS

Patients With Amnesia Still Feel Emotions, Despite Memory Loss

A new University of Iowa study offers some good news for caregivers and loved ones of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Patients might forget a joke or a meaningful conversation -- but even so, the warm feelings associated with the experience can stick around and boost their mood.

For the study, published this week in the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers showed individuals with memory loss clips of happy and sad movies. Although the participants couldn't recall what they had watched, they retained the emotions elicited by the clips. Justin Feinstein, lead study author and a student in the UI graduate programs of neuroscience and psychology, says the discovery has direct implications for Alzheimer's disease.

Feinstein conducted the study with UI neuroscience faculty members Daniel Tranel, Ph.D., UI professor of neurology and psychology, and Melissa Duff, Ph.D., UI assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders. The researchers studied five rare neurological patients with damage to their hippocampus, a part of the brain that's critical for transferring short-term memories into long-term storage. Damage to the hippocampus causes new memories to disappear. This same type of amnesia is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease.

Journal Reference:

Justin S. Feinstein, Melissa C. Duff, and Daniel Tranel. Sustained experience of emotion after loss of memory in patients with amnesia. PNAS, April 12, 2010 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0914054107

ScienceDaily (Apr. 13, 2010)

Generalization of Knowledge:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives

T. Banich, and Donna Caccamise

While the notion of generalization fits prominently into cognitive theories of learning, there is surprisingly little research literature that takes an overview of the issue from a broad multifaceted perspective. This volume remedies this by taking a multidisciplinary perspective on generalization of knowledge from several fields associated with Cognitive Science, including Cognitive Neuroscience, Computer Science, Education, Linguistics, Developmental Science, and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

Researchers from each perspective explain how their field defines generalization -- and what practices, representations, processes, and systems in their field support generalization. They also examine when generalization is detrimental or not needed. A principal aim is the identification of general principles about generalization that can be derived from triangulation across different disciplines and approaches.

Collectively, the contributors’ multidisciplinary approaches to generalization provide new insights into this concept that will, in turn, inform future research into theory and application, including tutoring, assistive technology, and endeavors involving collaboration and distributed cognition.

NEW BOOK ON CLINICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

When Language Breaks Down

Analysing Discourse in Clinical Contexts

This is the first book to present models for comprehensively describing discourse specifically in clinical contexts and to illustrate models with detailed analyses of discourse patterns associated with degenerative (Alzheimer's) and developmental (autism spectrum) disorders. The book is aimed not only at advanced students and researchers in linguistics, discourse analysis, speech pathology and clinical psychology but also at researchers, clinicians and caregivers for whom explicit knowledge of discourse patterns might be helpful. The emphasis is on the autistic spectrum and Alzheimer’s disease but beyond these disorders and the specific analyses, the authors provide a way of thinking about language in clinical impairments. It presents numerous worked out linguistic analyses and offers suggestions for further specific research.

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