Saturday 30 January 2016

Wada Test Normally Administered by Neuropsychologists like Teresa Susmaras

Teresa Susmaras and other neuropsychologists have noted side effects of the Wada test, administered prior to brain surgery.   Possible dramatic personality changes are possible, although a lack of inhibition is generally more common.  Shivering is a frequent effect.  During an injection into the left hemisphere, typically, the patient may experience impaired speech function including loss of understanding, although the ability to sing may still be present.  The recovery of speech after the medication dissipates may include errors in comprehension or expression.  The greatest risk may be in the insertion of the catheter into the internal carotid artery.  Scientists are currently searching for non-invasive alternatives, such as using fMRI, TMS, magnetoencephalography and a near-infrared spectroscopy.

The Wada test originated with a Canadian neurologist and epilepsy researcher, Juhn Atsushi Wada, from University of British Columbia.  While a medical resident in Japan during World War II, Wada researched a technique which decreased the cognitive side effects of electroconvulsive therapy.
Teresa Susmaras has studied dualism, or the dual brain theory.   First posited by Rene Descartes in the early 1600’s, dual brain theory holds that each hemisphere of the brain may perceive and react to the environment independently.  Further, one hemisphere may theoretically dominate the other as the result of emotional trauma, effectively protecting the traumatized hemisphere.  Dual brain theory rises from studies of epileptic patients who have undergone corpus callosum separation in an attempt to reduce seizures and their severity.  Studies with intact corpora callosa in healthy subjects have also indicated differing abilities and emotional reactions of the brain hemispheres.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wada_test
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_brain_theory

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Blog | Teresa Susmaras

Blog | Teresa Susmaras

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras Listens, Informs, Educates as Dome...

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras Listens, Informs, Educates as Dome...: Domestic abuse is the focus of a wider area of study in antisocial behavior, aggressive and impulsive compulsion, and neurological study an...

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Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras - In United States, Residents are ...: A stage of graduate medical training for physicians, a resident like Teresa Susmaras who holds a Ph.D. also offer multiple other specialti...

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Limit...

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Limit...: Magnetic resonance imaging is a testing process that makes images of organs and other interior body structures using a magnetic field. Bi...

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras - Logistics of Magnetic Resonance ...

Teresa Susmaras: Teresa Susmaras - Logistics of Magnetic Resonance ...: Allergies to medicines need to be revealed to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging technologist before MRI testing, as testing material which may ...

Thursday 14 January 2016

Rene Descartes Sets the Stage for Career of Teresa Susmaras

Teresa Susmaras practices in neuropsychology, which is new in neurological and psychological science.  Psychology itself, or the study of the human brain, has an ancient history.  As early as the Third Dynasty in Egypt, 3500BC, the priest and arguably the first scientific doctor in recorded history Imhotep, took a scientific approach to the understanding of the brain.  In Imhotep’s writings complex theories regarding trauma, abnormalities and remedies combine with detailed studies on the connection between the brain and the body.  Nonetheless, the brain was not regarded as an important part of bodily function, as men opted to approach medical studies from a religious point of view, blaming defects and anomalies on supernatural beings and evil spirits.

Hippocrates of the ancient Greeks regarded the brain as the house of the soul, being among the first to link the brain and behavior.  Shifting the focus of study from the heart to the brain awakened interest in the brain as the origin of behaviors, setting the stage for Teresa Susmaras’ profession today.   Hippocrates concept of mind was still seen as a phenomenon apart from the brain.  Much later, French scientist and philosopher Rene Descartes in the 1600’s expounded his theory of rationalism as knowledge emerging from reasoning, and felt the pineal gland deep inside the brain was the home of the soul.  Descartes felt the interaction of brain and body was mutual, a dualist point of view.  Descartes’s views slowly penetrated the scientific consciousness for years to come, and have affected thought and study in many arms of medicine.

Monday 4 January 2016

Teresa Susmaras - Logistics of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Allergies to medicines need to be revealed to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging technologist before MRI testing, as testing material which may be used to illuminate more clearly the body interior may contain elements which trigger the individual allergy. One should also reveal any health conditions, like diabetes, anemia or kidney issues, artery stent, pacemaker or defibrillator could interfere with MRI testing. Teresa Susmaras would encourage patients to reveal pregnancy, or metal implants in the body, or devices such as an artery stent, pacemaker or defibrillator. MRI testing may be limited or not possible in these cases. Any use of interior and exterior medicines needs to be revealed. Teresa Susmaras and the team at Suffolk University used brain imaging technology in her dissertation research.

A radiologist interprets the pictures generated by the MRI test, which is performed with the subject lying on his or her back on a table, which is part of the scanning technology. The head, chest and arms are held by straps to ensure complete immobility. The table will slide into the magnet space, while a device may be placed over or wrapped around the area to be imaged. A belt strap may be used to take readings on the subject’s breathing or heartbeat, enabling the scanner to take the picture at the correct time. The subject may be permitted to listen to music on headphones to distract from the noise of the scanner, and may be asked to hold his or her breath occasionally for an accurate image. Should contrast be needed for accurate images, it may be introduced to the subject’s body through an IV. Teresa Susmaras was present at majority of the scans of sectioned brain tissue in her research.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri?page=