Boston a golden retriever needs certification to takes care of 6 year old Karon

Karon is a 6 year old with Epilepsy and Boston her golden retriever doesn't leave her side. The Silva's got Boston when she 2 and a half years old. When Karon started having seizures 2 years ago, Boston automatically alerted her mom. Boston stays with Karon all the time he hardly ever leaves her side. The Silva's are hoping to get Boston certified as a seizure alert dog so he can go into stores, school and be with her everywhere. The need for seizure alert dogs are high.

It costs two thousand dollars for Boston to be certified. The Silvas have raised half of that and are needing help with the other part .

If you can help please call the West Texas Epilepsy Foundation at 806-352-5426

Ashley Poussard wins Color Me Benjamin Contest

Third grader Ashley Poussard holds up the $50 savings bond she received as a winner of the Color Me Benjamin contest. Mother Tara Poussard, father Roger Poussard and sister Amanda Poussard all showed up at the School Committee meeting to show their support.
Ten elementary school students received savings bonds for demonstrating awareness of epilepsy.
Anthony Cerullo, chairman of the Epilepsy School Alert Program affiliated with the Epilepsy Chapter of Wakfield, showed up at Thursday’s School Committee meeting to honor the third graders for submitting standout entries as part of the Color Me Benjamin contest.
Each year third grade teachers relay the fictitious story of Benjamin, a youngster diagnosed with epilepsy.
After learning about Benjamin students are asked to color a picture and write an essay explaining why he is their friend.
The School Committee invited the winners to read their essays aloud before presenting them with $50 savings bonds.
Parents and teachers packed into the Roby School for the award ceremony. Applause erupted when each of the third graders got up to the podium to share their touching entries.
This year’s winners were Alanna Felix and Andrew Mann from Oaklandvale Elementary School; Allie Kotkowski and Colby Murphy from Lynnhurst Elementary School; Hannah Spilman, Ashley Poussard, Emily Janvrin, Montana Santiano and Lauren Patterson from Veterans Memorial Elementary School and Alex Ricciardelli from Waybright Elementary School.

Standard thyroid tests fail to determine proper dose of thyroid replacement

Update January 29th 2009

I finally had my appointment with the Endocrinologist, to check the lab test ordered since my TSH level was 0.09, now it is 7.2. I'm really chubby and round now. This is "normal" due to the season climate change. I usually haven't had this "normal" for years. My dosage was increased trying to determine what will be good for me, which is OK but my net appointment with the Endo was scheduled for May. Lots of things can happen until then. I do believe there has to be a closer follow up of dosages, levels and syntoms.

My endocrinologist failed to determine I was on a high dose of levotiroxine for several months, until my hair started falling off, my family doctor decided to lower the dose. That was months ago.

marathon of life: Lower dossage of levotiroxine to stop hair loss if TSH is 0.90

My lab test were programed for this past Wednesday and I have an appointment with my family doctor next week and with the Endo in January. In the meantime I had to go from rapid heart and falling hair to exhaustion, facial edema, and increased body weight.

The worst thing about is the indifferent look they give at the lab values, and their I'm doing you a favor attitude, you are alive, the institution gives you the medication kind of thing . "You are living with a chronic disease you could be worst." was actually said to me by whom I call my "favorite doctor" I filed for a change of doctor and now I have a really great family doctor who does her best in spite the limit of not being an specialist.

Standard thyroid tests to determine proper dose of thyroid replacement.

Most physicians, including endocrinologists, rely on standard thyroid tests to determine their patients’ “proper” dose of thyroid replacement. The evaluation of a patient’s signs and symptoms to determine the proper dose has been reduced to the point of being unimportant to most physicians. This study demonstrates that it is improper to rely on standard thyroid tests to determine a patient’s optimal dose of thyroid replacement and doing so will result in inadequate replacement for the majority of patients. Thus, it is of no surprise that a large percentage of patients continue to suffer with symptoms of hypothyroidism despite being on so-call “proper” doses of thyroid, which is compounded by the fact that T4 only preparations are most often used.

After you cross the Jordan River, after the amorites prepare yourself for the Perizzites

I'm wonderfully immersed following the current of this refreshing invigorating flow of living waters. I metaphorically crossed the Jordan...........met some Amorites......not nice at all, proud selfish people who tried to crush me making me feel worthless and inferior due to my health issues, I had two options......to believe them or not...... I spent a couple of days feeling down and crippled, until I stood up to them with a humble yet self assertive attitude, "I had already identified a boastful proud attitude within myself, I had decided to have a humble heart full of gratitude in this pilgrimage " by making that heart decision and being brave to face the situations arising against my life I received favor and new stamina to continue my way with a strong will and happiness leaving aside the Perizzite attitudes that were hurting, freezing, paralyzing.

The next thing I have learned has to do with the source of low self esteem and "cripple attitude " which can hide behind other attitudes.
A little child that was abandoned and hurt, a young teenager, a young married woman having not made bad choices but having been affected by other people's decisions. A person whose wounds were inflicted by negligence, abandon and betrayal can become easy targets.

How important it is not to have an attitude of self pity............ it can be there hidden for years, like a paralyzing poison in small dosages, like botox within your will.

marathon of life: Ailisha Melhuish's personal challenge. Ailisha Melhuish is an example of challenge and victory.

My mother blessed my life this past November, blessing everything bad that has ever happened in our lives, not meaning illness but all the trials we had to face as a family , she made a declaration that it will all be used for good. I have come to realize the magnitude of it all as I have learned about the importance of generational blessings.

Today I have learned a secret, illness can cripple but so does tragedy, bad things that happen in your life.

Going to the root of it all..... Shechem. According to a tanna, Shechem is a place where bad things happen.

According to the Biblical references, Abraham, when he entered Palestine, found the Perizzites dwelling near the Canaanites , and God promised to destroy both these peoples . Jacob reproved his sons because of the crime of Shechem, inasmuch as he feared the Perizzites and the Canaanites.

Perizzites:Villagers; dwellers in the open country, the Canaanitish nation inhabiting the fertile regions south and south-west of Carmel. "They were the graziers, farmers, and peasants of the time." They were to be driven out of the land by the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8,17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11). They are afterwards named among the conquered tribes (Joshua 24:11). Still lingering in the land, however, they were reduced to servitude by Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).

At Shechem, Abram "built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him ... and had given that land to his descendants" (Gen 12:6-7). This Biblical account, considered by some to be the first place Abraham, Sarah, Lot and their party stopped upon their entry to Canaan. The Bible states that on this occasion, God confirmed the covenant he had first made with Abraham in Harran, regarding the possession of the land of Canaan. On a later sojourn, the sons of Jacob avenged their sister's rape (or by another interpretation, seduction) by massacring the city's inhabitants. Joshua assembled the Israelites in Shechem and encouraged them to reaffirm their adherence to the Torah. During the Judges period, Abimelech was crowned king in Shechem.

Abraham had a powerful need to deposit in the earth that would remain quiescent for later generations.

In Genesis chapter 49 we read about Jacob blessing his sons - and these are some very accurate blessings he gives as we will see as we continue through the Bible this year. Perhaps Predictions or Prophecies might be the better term for Jacob's blessings in this chapter. Verse 10 is awesome: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will obey." This verse can apply to 2 descendants of Judah - King David and then ultimately and eternally to Jesus. In verse 22 we read this about Joseph: "Joseph is a fruitful tree,"

It was at Shechem that Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery..............................

When Joseph was seventeen years old, Jacob sent him from Hebron to Shechem to "see about the welfare of your brothers" (Gen 37:12-14). When he arrived at Shechem, he found that his brothers had moved on twenty miles farther to the Plain of Dothan where there was very good pasturage (Gen 37:15-17). This sequence of events is important for two reasons. It confirms the affinity Jacob’s family had with the Shechem area, the first place they had settled when they came to the land for the first time (Cf. Abraham). It also records the sovereign supervision of God over the process by which He would bring Joseph to Egypt. It was there that He would multiply Jacob’s descendants in fulfilment of His covenant with Abraham, preparing them to become the nation that would later possess the land.

In earlier history Shechem was set aside as a city of Refuge. A city of refuge was a protected sanctuary at the time of Moses to shield anyone who had committed or was accused of a terrible crime.

Perizzites:Villagers; dwellers in the open country, the Canaanitish nation inhabiting the fertile regions south and south-west of Carmel. "They were the graziers, farmers, and peasants of the time." They were to be driven out of the land by the descendants of Abraham (Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8,17; 23:23; 33:2; 34:11). They are afterwards named among the conquered tribes (Joshua 24:11). Still lingering in the land, however, they were reduced to servitude by Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).

Read about facing the Amorites
marathon of life: After you cross the Jordan River

Cognitive behaviour therapy and epilepsy

Cognitive behaviour therapy is a type of psychotherapy where you talk about your problems with a specially trained therapist every week for several months. Your therapist could be a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, a psychotherapist or a GP.

The goal is to help you think more positively about yourself and your condition.

Knowing you have epilepsy can cause unhelpful thoughts. You may:

• Fear having a seizure
• Worry about what people think of you
• Feel different from other people and focus too much on the things you can't do
• Build up a set of false beliefs about your condition. It can be easy to blame your epilepsy for everything that doesn't go well in your life.

Because of these fears and worries, your epilepsy may stop you enjoying your day-to-day life, and it may stop you making friends and starting relationships.

Cognitive behaviour therapy teaches you how to recognise and control these negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and replace them with good ones.

This therapy is also used to help people who have depression or anxiety. Both of these conditions are common among people with epilepsy. About 1 in 5 people with epilepsy also have anxiety, and about 1 in 10 have depression.

How can it help?

There's not enough good research to say if cognitive behaviour therapy can help people with epilepsy.

If you have epilepsy and are also depressed, then this therapy may help ease your symptoms of depression. But too few studies have been done to say for certain.

Why should it work?

If you have epilepsy, you may have built up a negative way of thinking and behaving. Cognitive behaviour therapy helps you think and behave positively and manage your emotions. In theory, this should give you some control over your seizures, or at least stop them spoiling your day-to-day life. But, so far, the research doesn't support this theory.

Can it be harmful?

Unlike drugs, cognitive behaviour therapy doesn't cause side effects. We found no reports of people being harmed by this therapy.

Cognitive Therapy helps you think more positively about yourself and your condition. Don't be a victim of your thoughts! Get rid of the cripple attitude! It is a trap! Wake up!

Take authority over your thoughts!

Abigail Mexico's only female tamer speaks for NowPublic
by patgarcia

I had a great time doing this interview, my daughter helped me and enjoyed it too. She gave us an example of overcoming fear, "stand up to panthers or they will stand up to you" She also mentioned there are things you don't think about "you just do you have to do " I'm still learning about thoughts, fear can freeze us and so can thoughts.

She's probably the only female panther tamer in the world, I met her before I saw her show without her performing clothes on, wearing jeans yet her strong personality made an impact that led me to compare her to a panther at once. Approaching me with her proud elegant walk and fiery eyes.

The interview took place at her friend Tania’s camper between shows.After we were introduced by the Gonzalez family, we all sat down and relaxed in a home atmosphere, homes behind the circus, where moms like Tania cook dinner for their children before going out to their night show.

Can you tell us your Name and age? My name is Susana Abigail Grijalva but everybody knows me as Panther. I’m from Villahermosa Tabasco. Today is my birthday I’m 23 years old and I have been taming panthers for 4 years.

What inspired you to become a panther tamer?

Nothing really , It began as a game. My brother is a tiger tamer and I did it as a game and because there are no women tamers. There was one but she had an accident, now I’m the only one.

How do you train? How do you prepare ?

I don’t rehearse the number. My brother taught me how to do it the first time and I have done it ever since.

Do you feel any fear?
I do, but fear has to be overcome because animals can smell your fear. At the beginning I felt fear but not anymore, I figured them out, I get out there to do what I have to do and I stand up to them or they will stand up to me.

What are your achievements? I don’t know, this is something so normal to me, it’s my work maybe I don’t perceive it as an achievement because it began as a game. I began to work in the circus as a dancer and I also have a number with the high hoop. I was 19 when I started with the panthers.

What are your goals? To become world wide famous. I would love to go to U.S.A. to work at a bigger circus. I work in a big circus but I would like to work in a bigger one.

Have you been hurt by a panther?

No. A panther once bit my boot but nothing happened. . I once had a 3 meter fall from the high hoop I was not injured seriously but when the weather is cold all my bones hurt since then.

How do you feel being the only Mexican female tamer?

Imagine! Besides going to so many beautiful places, women come up to me and tell me they can’t believe I work with panthers and I like that. I like to be seen.

Do you realize you are unique and have achieve something special in life? Do you realize the impact you have on little children who see you as a real life hero?

You are making me cry and I have to save my make up for the next show……………………. Tears were actually about to flow from her expressive eyes, we paused

What can you tell Mexican women and women all over the world?

To accomplish their dreams not having any fear because I believe it’s better to risk it than to regret not having done it.

Why do you tame panthers and not tigers ?

Panthers are not as aggressive as tigers ; no, no tigers, I once went in to see them up close with my bother but that’s it. Panthers are docile but in fact panthers are not my favorite animal.

What do you like about your job?

Children! I have this little friend, she’s so cute every time she sees me, she gives me a hug, it feels wonderful, children value me more, more than young people or even adults. When I go out to do my show, even if nobody claps but one little kid does, then it was good, that motivates me.

I see you are a strong determined woman but at the same time very emotional.

Yes I’m very sentimental but I can also be the opposite, very hard. It comes with the family, my brother is like me but I think hard people have feelings too!

I had the impression of meeting a panther in captivity, a panther who wishes to have wings to fly as a beautiful white dove . A woman as she said of hard strong character, a woman full of sentiment.

After the interview she got dressed so I could take photos and then she went on to the next show.

Disability could give us short vision, low self esteem and a crippled attitude, we may feel like victims at times but must strive to move pass that mentality. As I have learned during these last days.

Being tired of sickness, it had been difficult to come out of these sleeping spells, I sometimes get my spirit seemed to have accepted to live a half lived life, a life where sickness actually ends up being used as a crutch, sickness ends up being your shame, your bitterness, your failure, you can even fall into the trap of thinking you are winning when in reality you have stopped fighting, it can get very tricky at times.

Sometimes people, circumstances and sickness cripple our life, sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally and spiritually. Unhelpful thoughts come to mind, fears, worries, thinking about what you can't do instead of what you can do, then bitterness poisons other areas of your life and fall into the snare of thinking " If I wasn't sick...................

WHAT do Socrates, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Charles Dickens, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven have in common?

Believe it or not, they are all thought to have had epilepsy. It’s enough to make you think that the condition is some sort of passport to creative genius.

Of course, it’s not. However, it is evidently no barrier to artistic achievement, or any other form of achievement for that matter.

Stephen Hawking

"It matters if you just don't give up."

SCIENCE HERO:
STEPHEN HAWKING
by Jeremiah from Joplin

Heroes are people who can overcome, or help others overcome, fear. They are people who will dash into a burning building to save someone or dive into shark-infested waters. The hero I write about is someone who just lives his life the way it is. He has faced terrible problems and has become, without meaning to, part of the beginning of a new scientific era. My hero is a person whose greatness sneaked up on the world. Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo. Although there were thousands of other people born that day, he was special. As a child he was always a bit too clumsy and a bit too smart. But he had no idea how these two things would shape his life; his clumsiness was to become a crippling disease and his smartness a great intellect. He had no idea that he would have to overcome great fear and at the same time be celebrated as one of the world's smartest people.

I found an interesting teaching in the bible about being crippled.

Let's see how Mephibosheth was crippled:

"And Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son that was lame of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth" (2 Samuel 4:4)

"⁵Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. ⁶Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! ⁷And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. ⁸And he bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" (2 Samuel 9:5-8)

Because of his disability, Mephibosheth grew up to be a person with a very low self-esteem. Notice how Mephibosheth, even after hearing David's gracious words, refers to himself as a "dead dog" . Perizzites are cripples, lame people who feel unworthy, who feel spiritually unable to walk on their own.

"Walking" in Scripture is a spiritual figure of the ability to conquer and to establish kingdom authority:

The story of Mephibosheth is a story of a victim. None of this is his fault. It’s not his fault he had to leave the royal court. It’s not his fault he broke both his ankles and the bones didn’t knit together again properly, so he remained disabled for the rest of his life. It’s not his fault he spent most of his adult life worried that a hit squad from the other side of the Jordan might find out who he was and where he was living. He’s lost his family, the use of his legs, and his security. He’s a victim of a violent period in human history.
It’s a reminder that each of us can be caught up in a web that’s not of our own making. Mephibosheth’s a victim. Like refugees, and people affected by disasters or wars around the world today. Maybe like you and me. It may be disability, suffering, broken relationships, obstacles in our way, loss, or whatever. Sometimes we’re innocent victims too .

But remember, the story of Mephibosheth is set in the context of God’s long-term relationship with his people.

Mephibosheth may be a victim, but he’s still loved by God. He still matters to God. Even while he’s off in exile, anonymous, disabled and fearful, God’s still looking after him, still loving and protecting him. And that’s true for us as well.

This story encourages us not to have the same cripple attitude Mephibosheth had, thinking of himself as a dog, it encourages us not to think of ourselves as cripples, but to see ourselves as God sees us, waiting, pressing forward with certainty and expectation the encounter with one's destiny.

This is an interpretation of one of my dreams. My left - right hemispheres.

HEMISPHERIC DOMINANCE TEST

Marathon of life: Dreams and Brain

Living inside my thoughts

Random thoughts
Originally uploaded by RAINDAWN

I have just "come out" I hope, of another sleeping episode, the previous one being on December 25th to just about New Years Eve.
I slept all day Friday and all this morning and I wondered inside my head when will I get enough sleep?

"I had the strangest thoughts as I slept this morning.
Living inside my thoughts, they're beautiful,colorful,nice
I wouldn't mind staying here, it's quite amazing but
It's lonesome, comatose like...... it's dangerous

Lord I summit all my thoughts in obedience to you
I said as I manage to wake up and live life!

Pat Garcia

"We take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ”
(2 Cor. 10:5 NIV")



I was out paying close attention Or was I lost inside my thoughts

Originally uploaded by namasterica

Kerstin Highlands won the Expressions of Courage art contest sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics

The muscle spasms she'd been having for months in one arm had reappeared and become more intense. But that didn't dissuade Ms. Highlands, of Hempfield, who was 14 at the time, from going to the mall with friends.

"I didn't know what to do about my arm, so I just went," said Ms. Highlands, now 20 and a junior at Westmoreland County Community College.

"Luckily, when I fell backward, there just happened to be a critical care nurse behind me and she caught my head with her ankle."

Ms. Highlands was diagnosed with epilepsy soon after. Her doctor said spasms in her arm had been a form of seizure called a myoclonic seizure.

With this new knowledge, her family concluded that she also had been having mild seizures called absence seizures -- characterized by staring spells and memory loss -- since middle school.

Since she started taking medication in 2003, Ms. Highlands has had no more seizures. In November, she won the Expressions of Courage art contest sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Neurologics, a pharmaceutical company.

Her drawing, "Falling Flow- ers of Strength," was chosen from hundreds of other submissions created by artists who have epilepsy. She also was a winner in 2007.

Blessed are the peacemakers

aisyDetail from 'Blessed are the Peacemakers'
Originally uploaded by lackad

A humble brave heart is needed to help others, it is not an easy task to shod your feet with the sandals of peace, it means going to war against intrinsic, egocentric, strongholds in your mind and the minds of others,those which support war, strife and all kinds of bitterness knowingly or not, I used to call myself a peace lover until recently, but I have come to realized I have to step up, be brave and be a peace maker. The Beatitudes speak to us about "the peacemaker" not the "peace lover." Passivity is not included neither is fear "Peacemaking" is a word of action.
There are many who love peace and few who work for it.Peace is a state of harmony, tranquility, and unity.It is by no means having a truce,evading issues or avoid standing up for truth to avoid strife.It is not pretending everything is OK in silence.That would be a lie resulting from fear.How many times have I been quiet!

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.
~ John F. Kennedy

"Lasting change begins in a person's heart — not on a numbered list or piece of paper,”

“If people are generous with their time, generous with their money, and generous with their belongings, then it's easy for others to see Christ's love lived out through their lives. And they reap the benefits tenfold through watching joy overflow into other people's lives,”

Ann Marie Chilton

"Be brave............... help others with love"
Josefina Carballo
A woman I met and learned to admire

Spanish Translation by Pat Garcia Marathon de Vida: Bienaventurados los que hacen la paz

marathon of life: During March in La Paz: Mexican Sign Language

ERK: learning , memory, stress, sleep and thyroid.

Activation of ERK in the visual cortex after visual activity as revealed by an antibody specific for phosphorylated ERK (ERK). Neurons are stained in green by the specific marker NeuN, astrocytes (blue) are stained by GFAP.

1. Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk, a mitogen-activated protein kinase family member) in the dorsal hippocampus is necessary for spatial memory.

a) What is spatial memory? According to the Concise English Dictionary, the definition is as follows:

"Spatial or spacial adj relating to or occurring in space."

Spatial memory, relates to how the brain stores information regarding the location of physical objects in space - the environment around you. Spatial memory is extremely vital for survival : it allows you to find your way in a familiar city, it allows a rat to learn the location of food in a maze, and it allows cats to find their food bowl in the kitchen. In earlier on in times , it allowed our ancestors to locate sources of water, food, and shelter.

b) Performance on a Virtual Reality Spatial Memory Navigation Task in Depressed Patients showed: Depressed patients performed worse than healthy subjects on a novel spatial memory task. Virtual reality navigation may provide a consistent, sensitive measure of cognitive deficits in patients with affective disorders, representing a mechanism to study a putative endophenotype for hippocampal function.

c) Aging is often associated with a decline in hippocampus-dependent spatial memory. It has been showed that functional cell-mediated immunity is required for the maintenance of hippocampus-dependent spatial memory. Sudden imposition of immune compromise in young mice caused spatial memory impairment, whereas immune reconstitution reversed memory deficit in immune-deficient mice. Analysis of hippocampal gene expression suggested that immune-dependent spatial memory performance was associated with the expression of insulin-like growth factor (Igf1) and of genes encoding proteins related to presynaptic activity (Syt10, Cplx2). We further showed that memory loss in aged mice could be attributed to age-related attenuation of the immune response and could be reversed by immune system activation.

d) A Laboratory has recently demonstrated that immune cells contribute to maintaining life-long hippocampal neurogenesis. The regulation of such immune-cell activity is crucial: too little immune activity (as in immune deficiency syndromes) or too much immune activity (as in severe inflammatory diseases) can lead to impaired hippocampal neurogenesis, which could then result in impaired hippocampal-dependent cognitive abilities. From these converging discoveries arise a mechanism that can explain one route by which our body affects our mind.

e) Experiments at Yale University, where neuroscientist assigned mice who were young, middle age and adults to treatment conditions which included cages where mice would exercise on running wheels, cages where they could play with toys or cages containing both, revealed changes in the animal's ability to navigate a spatial water maze, a common test of learning and memory.
* Exercise alone significantly improved the spatial memory of the young.
* Both exercise alone and complex enrichment alone significantly improved memory in the middle age but not so cognitive estimulation.
* For old mice, all enrichments ( alone or combined ) significantly improved performance.

Spatial memory is supported in part by the hippocampus, a brain region among the first to be affected by normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. Spatial memory is a good indicator of hippocampal health in both mice and humans.

The results suggest that as we get old and maybe less able to exercise, cognitive stimulation can help to compensate. “These data may suggest that enrichment initiated at any age can significantly improve memory function. And exercise plus mental challenge in middle age – when many people start to notice subtle memory changes – may offer the strongest, most widespread benefits for memory function." Says lead author Karyn Frick, PhD, “It is important for people of all ages to do 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise several times a week. Keeping a healthy and active brain may prevent memory decline in old age, but only a longitudinal study that follows mice over time could confirm this possibility.”

f) ASL has been shown to result in:Better visual spatial memory

Deaf and Hearing signers (ages 15-53) were better at remembering spatial locations for pictures of faces and shoes than Hearing nonsigners. In contrast, all groups were comparable at remembering spatial locations for nameable objects. This suggests that sign language experience improves organization and recall of visual spatial information that cannot be easily labeled.

marathon of life: During March in La Paz: Mexican Sign Language

Improve your spatial memory games

marathon of life: Blueberry flavonoids activate memory and learning

2.Loss of sleep may result in memory impairment. However, little is known about the biochemical basis for memory deficits induced by sleep deprivation. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is involved in memory consolidation in different tasks.

3.The impairments of both spatial memory and ERK phosphorylation indicate that the hippocampus is vulnerable to sleep loss. These results are consistent with the idea that decreased ERK activation in the hippocampus is involved in sleep deprivation-induced spatial memory impairment.

4.Since the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway is critical to neuroplasticity in the adult brain, understanding the role this pathway plays is important for understanding the molecular mechanism underlying drug addiction and relapse.

5.Alterations of ERK signaling have been thought to contribute to the drug’s rewarding effects and to the long-term maladaptation induced by drug abuse.

6.According to recent research published in the journal Neuroscience, "Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is highly sensitive to regulation by neuronal activity and is critically involved in several forms of synaptic plasticity. These features suggested that alterations in ERK signaling might occur in epilepsy."

7. Previous research indicates that the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-cyclic AMP-responsive-element-binding protein (CREB) signal system may be involved in the molecular mechanism of depression. The present study further investigated the effect of antidepressant fluoxetine on the ERK-CREB signal system and the depressive-like behaviors in rats.

8.Fluoxetine alleviated the depressive-like behaviors and reversed the disruptions of the P-ERK2 and P-CREB in stressed rats. Fluoxetine also exerted mood-elevating effect and increased the levels of the P-ERK2 and P-CREB in naive rats. These results suggest that the ERK-CREB signal system may be the targets of the antidepressant action of fluoxetine and participate in the neuronal mechanism of depression.

9.The ERK signal transduction pathway is a major convergence of signaling pathways regulating neuronal plasticity. Our previous study demonstrated that the ERK signal pathway participates in stress response and the antidepressant action of fluoxetine, and plays a vital role in the molecular mechanism of depression.

10.Some of the symptoms of depression that are the result of stress include crying spells, fatigue, imagined and actual pain, sleeping disturbances, panic attacks and nightmares. Experts say stress hormones that remain switched on can destroy and slow the growth of nerve fibers in hippocampus, which is linked to emotions that cause depression as well as memory.

11. Thyroid hormones are critical for the development and maturation of the central nervous system. Insufficiency of thyroid hormones during development impairs performance on tasks of learning and memory that rely upon the hippocampus and impairs synaptic function in young hypothyroid animals.

12.Fear conditioning is thought to depend upon an area of the brain called the amygdala. Ablation or deactivating of the amygdala can prevent both the learning and expression of fear. Some types of fear conditioning (e.g. contextual and trace) also involve the hippocampus, an area of the brain believed to receive affective impulses from the amygdala and to integrate those impulses with previously existing information to make it meaningful.

13. Fear has been a particularly attractive candidate for study because it has easily-measured physical correlates such as increased heart rate and release of stress hormones. From minor apprehension to stark terror, fear helps us make associations that keep us from harm. Fear learning is quick, powerful and long lasting. If you think back to your childhood, chances are good that within your earliest memory is an event colored by fear.

Interestingly, it appears that of all the emotions, the brain devotes the most space and energy to fear.

Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance
Psalm 42:2

Depression can have its source in our body, soul or spirit. Our body can affect our soul and spirit and vice versa. For example: if one has a low thyroid function it may affect the soul (for example the emotions) leading to depression which then affects one's spiritual life. Affecting our spiritual life does not mean it changes our standing or position in Christ, it means things like a less productive outreach/ministry and a more self-oriented prayer life.

Research since the 1990's has helped clarify this whole issue and there is now better understanding on the causes and solutions. The brain's frontal lobe (behind the forehead) is now known to be intimately involved in emotional well-being. It is recognized that one of the characteristics of virtually all depressed people is a significant decrease in the frontal lobe's blood flow and activity. The main cause of impaired frontal lobe function is a harmful lifestyle—the same cause of most of our physical diseases.3

There is now no question that reductions in frontal lobe function lie at the core of depression. Complimenting this research is the finding that depressed children have significantly smaller frontal lobes than non-depressed children. The evidence indicates that frontal lobe problems are the cause and not the effect. The frontal lobe's proper function requires adequate blood flow and nerve chemistry.

As fog veils a beautiful meadow, so depression clouds life itself; existence becomes dreary and dark. It has been described as darkness visible. One can go to bed feeling fine only to wake with an overwhelming gloom that cannot be explained or escaped. With proper nutrition, lifestyle changes and a renewed way of processing the events of our lives we can break through that fog into a sunny day.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones"

(Proverbs 17:21).

marathon of life: Healing Thyroid and emotions