Evaluation of Neurofeedback Training in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study

We assess the effects of EEG biofeedback training on levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using a sham feedback controlled study design. Nine subjects were randomized into either a treatment group or control group and underwent 24 sessions of either active feedback training or sham feedback. The training protocol aimed at increasing 8–15 Hz activity while inhibiting excess 4–8 Hz and 23–34 Hz activity at the C3-C4 derivation. There were no statistically significant differences baseline to post-active neurofeedback training as compared to sham feedback training in primary outcome measures assessing change in dyskinesia severity, nor in secondary outcome measures assessing change in clinical features of PD. Nonsignificant trends were observed in subjects’ PD home diaries indicating a decrease in the severity of motor fluctuations. Baseline to post-training comparisons of secondary outcome measures in quantitative EEG analysis showed significant interaction effects within and between frontal and posterior regions, accompanied by decreases in 25–30 Hz (high beta) relative power, cross spectral power and phase resets per second activity, and significant increases in 8–12 Hz (alpha) relative power, cross spectral power, and coherence activity. These results indicate that EEG biofeedback training can affect the spectral EEG topography of individuals with PD and LID and that training to increase 8–15 Hz activity and decrease 23–34 Hz activity may have been associated with a nonsignificant decrease in dyskinesia severity and an improved sense of well-being.     

Families Impacted by the Criminal Justice System on the Frontier: A New Model Required

The article examines some of the systemic issues which adversely affect access to justice by Aboriginal people in the East Kimberley. The author contends that little or no adjustment is made in law, policy or service delivery to take account of the circumstances of aboriginal people in the region. The high rate of recidivism and rate of aboriginal imprisonment suggest the current model has failed. The author analysizes why the model has failed and proposes solutions. The paper was originally delivered to the 29th Annual ANZAPPL Congress in November 2009 when the author was the resident magistrate in the East Kimberley.     

Investigating the role of FUS exonic variants in Essential Tremor

Essential Tremor is the most common form of movement disorder. Aggregation in families suggests a strong genetic component to disease. Linkage and association studies have identified several risk loci but the specific causal variants are still unknown. A recent study using whole exome sequencing identified a rare nonsense variant in the FUS gene (p.Q290X) that segregated with Essential Tremor in a large French Canadian family. In addition, two other rare FUS variants were identified (p.R216C and p.P431L) in Essential Tremor patients however co-segregation analysis with disease was not possible. In the present study, we sequenced all 15 exons of FUS in 152 familial probands with Essential Tremor and genotyped three reported FUS variants in 112 sporadic Essential Tremor patients and 716 control subjects recruited at Mayo Clinic Florida. Only known synonymous SNPs unlikely to be pathogenic were detected in our sequencing and not any of the recently identified mutations or novel ones. We conclude that the FUS mutations associated with risk of Essential Tremor are probably a rare occurrence.     

Abide with me: religious group identification among older adults promotes health and well-being by maintaining multiple group memberships

Objectives: Aging is associated with deterioration in health and well-being, but previous research suggests that this can be attenuated by maintaining group memberships and the valued social identities associated with them. In this regard, religious identification may be especially beneficial in helping individuals withstand the challenges of aging, partly because religious identity serves as a basis for a wider social network of other group memberships. This paper aims to examine relationships between religion (identification and group membership) and well-being among older adults. The contribution of having and maintaining multiple group memberships in mediating these relationships is assessed, and also compared to patterns associated with other group memberships (social and exercise).

Method: Study 1 (N = 42) surveyed older adults living in residential care homes in Canada, who completed measures of religious identity, other group memberships, and depression. Study 2 (N = 7021) longitudinally assessed older adults in the UK on similar measures, but with the addition of perceived physical health.

Results: In Study 1, religious identification was associated with fewer depressive symptoms, and membership in multiple groups mediated that relationship. However, no relationships between social or exercise groups and mental health were evident. Study 2 replicated these patterns, but additionally, maintaining multiple group memberships over time partially mediated the relationship between religious group membership and physical health.

Conclusion: Together these findings suggest that religious social networks are an especially valuable source of social capital among older adults, supporting well-being directly and by promoting additional group memberships (including those that are non-religious).