tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post8615579651518270657..comments2024-03-14T23:52:09.893-07:00Comments on The Neurocritic: Celebrity NeurostigmaThe Neurocritichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-81972911081720613362010-12-17T18:13:02.038-08:002010-12-17T18:13:02.038-08:00So much for Dr. Amen and diagnosis via Spect scans...So much for Dr. Amen and diagnosis via Spect scans or should I say Spect scams?<br />I say Amen for your info on the dangers of diagnosing Mental Illness based on unproven methodology.<br />I am a mental health advocate.<br />My site is http://disabilityinfo.hostcell.net/index.htmAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-82431558808189158292010-10-31T12:35:35.183-07:002010-10-31T12:35:35.183-07:00AnnaZed - Thanks for the kind words. Other than th...AnnaZed - Thanks for the kind words. Other than the stilted "Stiffness of the Mind" metaphor, that blog post seems fairly accurate. He brought up the under-utilized, valid argument that rats who become addicted to cocaine self-administration...<br /><br /><i>"...probably don't suffer from spiritual maladjustment. Quite a few theories blame the person's emotional and spiritual deficiencies for the onset of addiction. The animal experiments teach that there's a neurobiological process at work."</i><br /><br />Anonymous - I totally agree that most reality shows would never pass an IRB.<br /><br />Justin - I think Amen could have made his point without misleading Rodman and the general public. And Korsakoff's syndrome is actually <a href="http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/GARD/Disease.aspx?diseaseID=6843" rel="nofollow">considered a rare disease</a> by NIH, and is quite different from fronto-temporal dementia.The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-47748915057430900162010-10-30T11:42:57.404-07:002010-10-30T11:42:57.404-07:00Hi Neuroccritic, I have just found your blog and a...Hi Neuroccritic, I have just found your blog and am reading every single post. You are very interesting and brilliant.<br /><br />I can't see a place to contact you directly (and I certainly don't blame you for that) so thinking that it's not entirely off topic I'll just post a question here.<br /><br />Does anything in this blog make any scientific sense?:<br /><br />http://newrecovery.blogspot.com/2010/10/stiffness-of-mind.html<br /><br />thanks.AnnaZedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06606860601592137889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-8588452801542958232010-10-30T10:02:37.179-07:002010-10-30T10:02:37.179-07:00I've always found it it disturbing that in the...I've always found it it disturbing that in the US it is impossible to do a scientific experiment on situations that are routinely used for entertainment. Most of the situations shown on many reality TV shows would not be approved by standard IRBs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-56686665180772487062010-10-26T01:54:26.045-07:002010-10-26T01:54:26.045-07:00I think when Amen said "... something like Al...I think when Amen said "... something like Alzheimer's" he was referring to Korsakoff's dementia - which is clinically similar to fronto-temporal dimentia but shares some clinical criteria with Alzheimer's (basically poor memory function) which is far more common and better understood by the population at large.<br /><br />There are many levels of similarity - not just aetiology (which you have assumed here). To the (lay) patient the most sensible criteria to use is behavioural - Rodman can imagine what it may be like to have something like Alzheimer's behaviourally. He is not going to imagine the neurofibrillary tangles and plaques.<br /><br />Aetiology is not always the most relevant dimension - Alzheimer's, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration all share aeitiological similarities (plaques and tangles) but the pathology affects very different brain regions and so has very different effects on cognitive systems and bahaviour.Justin Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03934224148854235916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-51998682783334671112010-10-25T08:01:46.849-07:002010-10-25T08:01:46.849-07:00Thanks for the new link -- I've updated my sit...Thanks for the new link -- I've updated my site.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-30300661232086634632010-10-24T19:47:12.018-07:002010-10-24T19:47:12.018-07:00Thanks for the comments. I read a lengthy piece in...Thanks for the comments. I read a lengthy piece in the <i>NYT Magazine</i>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/magazine/03Pinsky-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1" rel="nofollow">Hitting Bottom</a>, because of the title page: "Is Dr. Drew Pinsky's Show Therapy or Tabloid Voyeurism?" So I wanted to see how much criticism was included. Very very little, actually. I thought it was a puff piece. The end of the article is very disturbing, but the appalling nature of his exploitative behavior goes unmentioned. He almost breaks a cardinal rule by disclosing confidential (and traumatic) information in a group therapy session:<br /><br /><i>“Do you want to share your life experiences?” Pinsky asked.</i><br /><br /><i>“Not today,” Sizemore said.</i><br /><br /><i>“May I just say that Tom’s experience, Tom’s childhood experience?” Pinsky told the group. “Common to many experiences here. He actually told a story once that stayed with me.” Pinsky looked at Sizemore with obvious sympathy, then tried to prompt him. “You know?” he said. “About the crib?”</i><br /><br /><i>As Pinsky tried to draw him out, Sizemore looked back at Dr. Drew with a soft, tired smile. Finally he said, “Not on TV.”</i><br /><br />I can't quite come up with the correct term: emotional vampire? addiction pimp? trauma junky? celebrity cannibal? User (of course), but I was going for something more descriptive, more sinister.<br /><br /><br />Sanjay - Your post on the Joaquin Phoenix diagnosis is hilarious! The link to the Letterman show isn't valid anymore, but this one should work: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97pPMzESi6s" rel="nofollow">Joaquin Phoenix Return visit on David Letterman show</a>The Neurocritichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08010555869208208621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-82704907181478515312010-10-24T18:26:39.787-07:002010-10-24T18:26:39.787-07:00This is an excellent post. Very well done.This is an excellent post. Very well done.bradley.voytek@gmail.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705565128439299346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-43669773392028104832010-10-24T10:54:44.637-07:002010-10-24T10:54:44.637-07:00Brain images lend a false air of scientific heft t...Brain images lend a false air of scientific heft to this kind of stuff. But Dr. Drew seems perfectly happy to make unfounded diagnoses of behavior too -- often accompanied by plugs for his TV shows. I put up a short blog post juxtaposing Dr. Drew's unsolicited diagnosis of Joaquin Phoenix (Dr. Drew didn't think he was faking because he showed symptoms that are "difficult if not impossible to mimic") with Phoenix's reaction after he ended his hoax. Phoenix took it in good humor, he could have embarrassed Dr. Drew a lot more.<br /><a href="http://hardsci.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/nice-try-doctor-firstname/" rel="nofollow">http://hardsci.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/nice-try-doctor-firstname/</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21605329.post-5051465437845678122010-10-23T20:33:03.232-07:002010-10-23T20:33:03.232-07:00Ugh. Dr. Drew drives me crazy! Thank you so much f...Ugh. Dr. Drew drives me crazy! Thank you so much for writing this. It drives me nuts when therapists pretend to understand neurology but only if it fits EXACTLY what they want it to be.<br /><br />Alcoholics anonymous has horrible success rates and yet it's supposed to be "if you aren't going to AA you aren't trying"<br /><br />AA doesn't work for some people. It's really an obnoxious system, although it is free and it is something which makes it.... well free and something.SustainableFamilieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08820607553556177222noreply@blogger.com