Anna Tommerdahl - corticalmetrics insights (Page 3)

Thanksgiving: A Feast for your Brain

November 21, 2018

When you're going back for seconds (or sevenths) at Thanksgiving dinner, load up on these brain boosting dishes.

Turkey

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About an hour after the last slice of pie has been served, someone in your family - perhaps the crazy uncle, or the social-media obsessed aunt - will inevitably release an exaggerated yawn before blaming their sudden drowsiness on "all that tryptophan". It happens year after year. After 'Turkey' and 'Thanksgiving' itself, 'tryptophan' is the hottest buzz word every fourth Thursday in November. This oft-repeated myth even prevails despite

Lysine, Alzheimer's and the Brain Gauge

November 16, 2018

It’s not unusual to hear of a new study finding a link between the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and… well, pretty much anything: drinking too much alcohol, not drinking any alcohol, having a stroke, pre-eclampsia, not exercising enough, head trauma earlier in life, having high blood pressure, taking opioids, taking beta-blockers, eating soy, eating too many carbs and unhealthy fats, having diabetes, having herpes virus…the list goes on. As does the list of things to do to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease: exercise more, stay social, drink

A Review of the Choco-Literature

October 31, 2018

It's Halloween, which means that in just a few hours parents across the country will have their hands full with children toting plastic pumpkins, grocery bags and pillowcases full of sugary treats.

For many parents, this is the scariest part about Halloween. Children who consume too much sugar are at risk for obesity, diabetes, and cavities. Binging on their Halloween haul can also lead to a harrowing sugar-crash hangover, and upon waking up for school the next day they might be even more terrifying than the night before.

Rationing your

The best types of exercise for your mental health

October 29, 2018

Exercise is an incredible medicine. It can lower blood pressure, prevent diabetes, and alleviate the debilitating symptoms of chronic depression and anxiety. It’s even been shown to promote better skin health, improve eyesight, and ward off the aging process of cells.

On the other hand, not exercising can lead to mood disorders, arthritis - and not surprisingly - obesity and cardiovascular disease. The CDC estimates that inadequate exercise accounts for 11% of total annual healthcare costs in the United States - that’s just over $130 billion each year.

Your child might need more time than you think to recover from a concussion

October 24, 2018

Children are resilient. They can often laugh off traumatic injuries that would send most otherwise healthy adults to the ER. For most of elementary school, there was more of my skin in tatters on the playground than on my knees or elbows, the result of daily high-speed bike crashes and padless tackle football games on the blacktop. (You might be wondering where my parents were during all this. Thank you, I appreciate your concern. They were usually at the doctor’s office with one of my brothers tending to an

What does a blood pressure cuff have to do with a Brain Gauge?

October 22, 2018

Climate change is not unique in scientific skepticism – there is a long history of early disbelief in new techniques or ideas: germ theory and sterile surgery, the earth not being at the center of the universe (Galileo got in trouble for that one!) and the blood pressure cuff as a relatively easy tool that anyone could use.

The task of measuring one’s blood pressure today is standard and is easily measured in the doctor’s office, a drug store, or even in your own home. The units of measure

Chronic Mold Exposure: Testing for Chronic Inflammatory Response

October 18, 2018

In the previous post, I explained an acute effect of mold on the nervous system, namely that toxins produced by mold act as a GABAA antagonist. But what happens when you have prolonged mold exposure? And what can you do about it? And how do you know if what you’re doing is actually helping?

The name given to mold/biotoxin patients completely explains what goes on when moving from an acute reaction to chronic problems. Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) is a well-documented condition with an impressive amount of

Mold Exposure: A Step-by-Step Guide to Tracking Recovery with a Brain Gauge

October 12, 2018

You may think of mold as a relatively harmless part of cheese that’s been in your fridge a little too long, or maybe as the penicillin that you take when you get an infection. But for some with genetic susceptibility, exposure to mold/mycotoxins and other biotoxins (like Lyme disease) can have extreme negative effects on their health and can cause symptoms as diverse as brain fog, fatigue, chronic pain, and/or debilitating psychiatric disorders. The large range of usually nondescript symptoms can leave those afflicted confused and frustrated

Autism: What kind of results could you expect from the Brain Gauge?

October 10, 2018

In another article, we discussed the nature of autism and how it guided the design of the Brain Gauge testing methods. One question that we often get is what Brain Gauge scores look like before and after treatment. We are often inquired whether Brain Gauge scores indicate if someone is improving or not.

Let’s take a look at one of the subjects in one of our autism studies. At the time, the patient was 22 years old, IQ in the 120 range and had an AQ of 38. He

The test for aging dementia many people would like to avoid.

October 03, 2018

If you could take a test that predicts you are headed for a degenerative state, would you take it?

Over the past couple of years, I have had several interesting discussions with clinicians using the Brain Gauge revolving around the fact that some patients score poorly and don’t like their scores. These people generally fall into one of three groups:

People that declare that they feel fine and that there is nothing wrong. Doubtful if they will seek help.
People that are disturbed that their scores are poor, but