Smart Combat Helmet Is Goal Of Researchers

University of Illinois researchers are pooling their knowledge of health sciences and engineering on a project that ultimately could benefit combat soldiers who’ve received serious – but often immediately undetectable – blast-related brain injuries.

The project will focus on the use of the latest communications technology to transfer real-time blast-injury data to first responders. Leading the investigation is Kenneth Watkin, a professor of speech and hearing science in the College of Applied Health Sciences who also holds appointments in the U. of I.’s Beckman Institute and Information Trust Institute, and Ravi Iyer, the director of the College of Engineering’s Coordinated Science Laboratory and ITI chief scientist. Co-investigators are ITI associates and professors of electrical and computer engineering Zbigniew Kalbarczyk, Janek Patel, William H. Sanders and Mark Spong.....

Northstar Neuroscience shares sink 85%; Jefferies downgrades to underperform

NEW YORK, Jan 23, 2008 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- NSTR | news | PowerRating | PR Charts -- Shares of Northstar Neuroscience Inc. sank to an all-time low Tuesday after the company said its Everest trial evaluating cortical stimulation to improve hand and arm function in stroke survivors failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint.Next....

With Love from the Libraries - Winners Announced!

How does Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet compare to Speech and Language Pathology or even Psychology? A couple of UI graduate students were able to make the case for the With Love from the Libraries contest.

Patricia Grieg, a graduate student in Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology compared the communication breakdowns between Romeo and Juliet and their families and the communication difficulties of stroke patients suffering from aphasia. For her entry, Patricia won first prize - two tickets to dinner and a performance of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Hancher.

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Washington, Feb 12 (ANI): A new study has found that learning disabilities are associated with language problems later in life.


A new study has found that learning disabilities are associated with language problems later in life.

The study, conducted by Emily Rogalski, Ph.D., then at Northwestern University and now at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and colleagues, found that individuals with a neurodegenerative condition affecting language appear more likely to have had a history of learning disabilities than those with other types of dementia or with no cognitive problems.

The condition, known as primary progressive aphasia, causes individuals to lose language abilities as they age, even though their other brain functions appear unaffected for at least the first two years.

For the study, the research team examined a group of 699 individuals, 108 with primary progressive aphasia, 154 with Alzheimer's disease, 84 with a related disorder known as frontotemporal dementia and 353 controls without dementia.

During their enrolment, participants completed a detailed demographic and medical history interview that included two questions about whether they or immediate family members had a history of learning disabilities.

The team conducted a medical record review for the 23 individuals with primary progressive aphasia who reported either a personal or family history of learning disability.

The researchers found that patients with primary progressive aphasia were more likely to have had learning disabilities or a close family member with learning disabilities than were those with other forms of dementia or without dementia.

The review of patients with both aphasia and learning disabilities showed families with unusually high rates of learning problems, especially dyslexia.

The study suggests that some individuals or families may have an underlying susceptibility to difficulties with the language network.

"This relationship may exist in only a small subgroup of persons with dyslexia without necessarily implying that the entire population with dyslexia or their family members are at higher risk of primary progressive aphasia," the authors said.

The study is published in the February issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (ANI)

Learning Disabilities May Presage Later Language Problems

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Learning Disabilities May Presage Later Language Problems
02.12.08, 12:00 AM ET

TUESDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- People with a personal or family history of learning disabilities may be more at risk for a rare type of dementia that causes them to lose language abilities as they age, according to a new report.

The condition, known as primary progressive aphasia, causes language abilities to be slowly and progressively impaired, even though the person's other brain functions appear unaffected for at least the first two years, according to background information for the article in the February issue of Archives of Neurology.

Although risk factors for Alzheimer's disease have been well studied, much less is known about risk factors for primary progressive aphasia, the authors wrote.

Researchers, led by Emily Rogalski, then of Northwestern University and now of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, studied 699 people -- about half with no dementia and the other half with either primary progressive aphasia, Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder known as frontotemporal dementia.

Patients with primary progressive aphasia were more likely to have had learning disabilities or a close family member with learning disabilities than were those with other forms of dementia or without dementia. The review of patients with both aphasia and learning disabilities showed families with unusually high rates of learning problems, especially dyslexia.

For example, in three cases, nine of the 10 children of the participants were reported to have had a history of specific learning disability in the area of language, the authors wrote.

"In our clinical practice, we encounter many patients with primary progressive aphasia who report that spelling was never their strong suit or that they could not learn new languages, but who would not have identified themselves as having a learning disability," they continued.

The association suggests that some people or families may have an underlying susceptibility to difficulties with the language network.

"This relationship may exist in only a small subgroup of persons with dyslexia without necessarily implying that the entire population with dyslexia or their family members are at higher risk of primary progressive aphasia," the authors concluded.

Graduate student earns Kensel Giddings Award

Dec. 21, 2007

KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University graduate student Carolyn Kennedy of Jenison, Mich., has won an award from a special fund established by a Paw Paw, Mich., family to promote better communication options for people with stroke-induced language problems.

Kennedy, a first-year graduate student in speech-language pathology, has been selected to receive the Kensel Giddings Award in Aphasia Education for the 2007-08 academic year. Aphasia is an impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as a result of a stroke or other brain injury.

Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing

“Head injuries are a substantial risk,” claims the Sports Injury Bulletin. “In one study, for instance, 57% of participants in Tae Kwon Do had experienced some form of head injury. This could range from mild concussion to intracranial bleeds. Case reports of internal carotid artery dissection, stroke, aphasia (loss of speech from brain lesion), hemiplegia and ophthalmic trauma resulting in loss of vision; appear frequently in the literature of the past ten years.”

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