Worse Brain Research Articles

Bad Brains: Crime and Drug Abuse from a Neurocriminological Perspective

Research into the biosocial correlates of antisocial behavior has revealed the importance of integrating sociological findings with evidence flowing from genetics and neuroscience. The present study represents a step toward such integration by offering an in-depth overview of neurocriminology, which is the study of the brain and how it affects antisocial behavior. We consider the role of the brain in both antisocial/criminal behavior as well as in drug use/abuse. We highlight various regions/systems in the brain that have been identified as targets for intervention and as areas in need of more study. This knowledge equips us with the foundation to think translationally about how to promote mental health, adaptive behavior, and well-being among drug using criminal offenders.

Abstract 13: Relations of Midlife Exercise Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and Fitness to Late Life Brain Structure and Function

Background: Exaggerated blood pressure (BP) and vascular stiffness have been associated with lower cognitive performance and brain atrophy in older age. The brain is a high-flow, low impedance organ that is susceptible to fluctuation in BP. Poor cardiovascular (CV) fitness is also emerging as a factor associated with cognitive decline in older age. The BP and heart rate (HR) response to exercise are impacted by CV fitness; and exercise BP is also highly determined by vascular stiffness. The objective of this investigation was to examine whether poor fitness and exaggerated BP and HR response to exercise in midlife are associated with worse brain morphology in later life. Methods: A subset of Framingham Offspring Study participants (n=1340, 54.5% F) free from dementia and CV disease underwent an exercise treadmill test (the modified Bruce protocol) in midlife [mean age of 41±9 y] and continued until exhaustion or until 85% HR maximum (age- and sex- predicted) was reached. Exercise test duration was used to estimate VO2max. BP and HR were measured during stage 2. MRI scans of the brain and neurocognitive tests (Trail Making Tests [Trails] B-A) were administered in later life [mean age of 59±9 y]. Results: A greater exercise systolic (S)BP and HR response at midlife was associated with smaller total cerebral brain volume (TCBV) in later life (β=-0.09 ±0.04, p=0.042; β=-0.10 ±0.05, p=0.033) after adjustment models including resting SBP and HR; an effect equal to approximately 0.5 y brain aging for every 11.1 mm Hg increase in SBP or 10 beats per min increase in HR. Higher estimated VO2max at midlife was associated with larger TCBV in later life (β=0.03 ±0.01, p=0.014). Additionally, greater exercise HR response at midlife was associated with smaller frontal lobe volume in later life (β=-0.012 ±0.05, p=0.002). Exercise diastolic (D)BP at midlife was associated with poorer performance on Trails B-A in later life (β=-0.009 ±0.004, p=0.017) and the achievement of target HR during exercise was associated with better performance on Trails B-A in later life (β=0.03 ±0.01, p=0.044). Resting SBP at midlife was associated with greater white matter hyperintensity volume in later life (β=0.05 ±0.02, p=0.031); and resting SBP and DBP at midlife were also associated with smaller frontal lobe volume in later life (β=-0.17 ±0.07, p=0.011; β=-0.21 ±0.10, p=0.030). Conclusion: Our investigation provides new evidence that lower midlife fitness and worse exercise BP and HR responses are associated with smaller brain volumes and poorer cognitive performance nearly two decades later. Promotion of midlife physical fitness may be an important step towards ensuring healthy brain aging in the population.

Riff Schemes, Form, and the Genre of Early American Hardcore Punk (1978–83)

This article explores the structures of guitar riffs in early American hardcore punk rock and their role in the creation of meaning within the genre. Drawing upon a corpus analysis of recordings by Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and Minor Threat, the article begins by outlining the main ways in which guitar riffs are structured. Many reflect a structural basis in what I call “riff schemes,” organizing patterns of physical repetition and physical change made by a guitarist’s fretting hand. There are four main types, which are defined by the location of repetition within the riff (at the beginning or at the end) and whether the type of repetition is exact or altered: (1) Initial Repetition and Contrast, (2) Statement and Terminal Repetition, (3) Statement and Terminal Alteration, and (4) Model and Sequential Repetition. These schemes may also play an expressive role in song narratives of energy, intensity, and aggression, all of which are common tropes in oral histories of hardcore. In the final part of the article, I present analyses of two songs that demonstrate this use: Minor Threat’s “Straight Edge” and Black Flag’s “Rise Above.”

Roles of default-mode network and supplementary motor area in human vigilance performance: evidence from real-time fMRI

We used real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to determine which regions of the human brain have a role in vigilance as measured by reaction time (RT) to variably timed stimuli. We first identified brain regions where activation before stimulus presentation predicted RT. Slower RT was preceded by greater activation in the default-mode network, including lateral parietal, precuneus, and medial prefrontal cortices; faster RT was preceded by greater activation in the supplementary motor area (SMA). We examined the roles of these brain regions in vigilance by triggering trials based on brain states defined by blood oxygenation level-dependent activation measured using real-time fMRI. When activation of relevant neural systems indicated either a good brain state (increased activation of SMA) or a bad brain state (increased activation of lateral parietal cortex and precuneus) for performance, a target was presented and RT was measured. RTs on trials triggered by a good brain state were significantly faster than RTs on trials triggered by a bad brain state. Thus human performance was controlled by monitoring brain states that indicated high or low vigilance. These findings identify neural systems that have a role in vigilance and provide direct evidence that the default-mode network has a role in human performance. The ability to control and enhance human behavior based on brain state may have broad implications.

Performing Punk: Bad Brains and the Construction of Identity

Performing Punk: Bad Brains and the Construction of Identity

`Make me normal'

Facilitating the learning and participation of pupils with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism (herein referred to as AS) in mainstream schools is complex and poorly understood. We report on a small-scale qualitative study of the views and experiences of 20 such pupils drawn from four secondary schools in north-west England. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and pupil diaries. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to explore how pupils with AS make sense of their educational experiences. The central theme was how participants constructed their understanding of what their AS meant to them. This was often characterized by negative perceptions of their differences, such as being 'retarded' or having a 'bad brain'. The links between this understanding and reported difficulties with peers and teachers, the desire to 'fit in', and other themes are discussed. The implications of these findings for policy and practice in this area are also presented.

Childhood Injury and Development of ADHD: How Are They Related?

Some studies suggest that children who have sustained traumatic brain injuries have increased risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and that children diagnosed with ADHD have worse symptoms following brain injury than children without pre-injury behavior problems. In a retrospective cohort study, researchers reviewed medical records in …

Auditory processing disorders: Acquisition and treatment

Auditory processing disorder (APD) describes a mixed and poorly understood listening problem characterised by poor speech perception, especially in challenging environments. APD may include an inherited component, and this may be major, but studies reviewed here of children with long-term otitis media with effusion (OME) provide strong evidence for changes in auditory processing acquired through altered experience (deprivation) and brain plasticity. Whether inherited or acquired, it is suggested that APD may be reversed by active learning. Training tunes both bottom-up and top-down neural mechanisms, some that are specific to the trained stimulus and some that reflect more generalised arousal. APD and its treatment therefore provide examples of brain plasticity working either in a negative or in a positive way to modulate listening. Learning outcomes: (1) Readers will be able to discuss APD in the context of inheritance and experience. (2) Readers will be able to explain how OME has been shown to alter auditory processing. (3) Readers will be able to list examples of good and bad brain plasticity. (4) Readers will be able to explain what auditory learning is, list some of its properties, and provide examples of its application in therapy for communication disorders.

Left of the Dial

This essay is a brief history of American underground/independent music from 1980 to 2000. The authors examine 21 of what they believe are the best and most influential bands of the period and provide an annotated list of representative recordings. These artists provide the inspiration and sonic blueprint for much of today's cutting-edge music. Even so, their recordings are often absent from library collections and many librarians and patrons are unfamiliar with them. The groups discussed are Bad Brains, Beat Happening, Big Black, Bikini Kill, Black Flag, Camper Van Beethoven, Dead Kennedys, Fugazi, Galaxie 500, Hüsker Dü, Melvins, Minor Threat, Minutemen, Mission of Burma, Pixies, R.E.M., the Replacements, Sleater-Kinney, Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses, and Uncle Tupelo.

The psychological origins of the white male patriarchy

A white male patriarchy developed in England as the British empire grew, expanding its colonial exploitation around the world. A rational explanation was required to explain how a small number of men deserved to control this enormous and growing wealth. With Darwin's theory of evolution (survival of the fittest), Galton's studies of genius (rich and successful men were related to each other) and Spencer's insight that natural selection in human societies was Nature's way of getting rid of bad stock and preserving the best, the theory took shape. The theory was imported to America where it flourishes. Psychologists provided evidence to support the ideas of the ruling class: intelligence, mental disorders, crime and the addictions are all due to bad genes and bad brains. The defect model occupies the center of the stage. There is no need to act to remove injustice, sexism, racism, homophobia-the causes of distress are not social, they are internal, personal defects. Drugs will reduce the symptoms while the search goes on for the internal defects.

Young children's attitudes, after a period of integration, towards peers with severe learning difficulties

ABSTRACT The study reported here focused on changes in attitudes of nine non‐handicapped (NH) six and seven year olds towards peers with severe learning difficulties (SLD) after experience of structured integration sessions over one school year. Year‐end interviews indicated that the NH children had generally maintained their positive attitudes shown towards children with SLD early in the year. This contrasted with attitudes towards classmates thought to be ‘not very clever’ or needing ‘a lot of help’ which remained relatively negative. Knowledge about SLD encompassed four different explanatory models of SLD: sensory‐motor difficulties, including deafness; young age; naughtiness; or ‘bad brains’. Implications of the study, particularly the importance of structure in integrated sessions and the provision of coherent explanations of handicap, are considered.