phantom limb pains

If you haven't read V.S. Ramachandran's Phantoms in the Brain, now may be a good time to pick it up. I read it several years ago and was fascinated by the cases he has encountered, one of which was his description of phantom limb pain. The New England Journal of Medicine has just published as study performed by military hospitals that was inspired by Dr. Ramachandran's mirror therapy.

CNN also posted an article that also includes pictures of mirror therapy in use.

Here is Dr. Ramachandran at TED describing the use of mirrors in therapy:


Can you tell I'm a wanna-be TEDster?

via TEDBlog

Coming up for air...

Finally - Spring Break! It'll be a break from school but work continues - I have two lit reviews to work on and a presentation for work. Somewhere in there, I need to doing some spring cleaning, get the transmission fixed, organize my school work, the chores continue ad nauseum... But hey, no classes? I'll take it. If there could be a Spring Break from motherhood - oops, did I type that? Of course I'm kidding...

The lack of entries is directly correlated to the amount of school this semester (see how I slipped that "correlation" remark in there? Impressed? No? Forget it...)

So what have I learned about this semester? Well, subject-wise, pediatrics.. developmental, NDT, SI, sensory profiles (I'm avoid sensation, not much of a seeker, and need more input for registration - here I thought I was dull). Also, quantitative research and OA Models, primarily MOHO and OA. There's more but I'll stop there. You get to this point that you realize that as much as you've learned already, it's just scraping the surface...

One of the special issues classes I'm going to be taking is "cognition across the lifespan"; I'm excited! I've always been interested in neurology but it had always been more in passing. Yeah, that's right, I'm a brain groupie.

One of the TED speakers this year was Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who herself experienced a stroke. As much as I love the science itself, she provides the insight and experience no textbook could ever convey. Definitely worth the watch:



-C

Brain by Brain

I cannot emphasize how I am so glad I am done with neuro A&P! Not sure if this would have helped much but at least it would have provided a much needed mental break:



On a less silly note, one of the things I am interested in is memory - mainly because mine sucks. WNYC's Radio Lab had a segment earlier this summer on Memory and Forgetting that is very entertaining and informative (and how often can that be claimed?) If you enjoyed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, they present a possibility that erasing memories *could* work. Crazy! Check it out!