November marks Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) Week. PANDA, now in it’s 18th year, is all about supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of expecting and new parents.

November marks Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia (PANDA) Week. PANDA, now in it’s 18th year, is all about supporting the mental and emotional wellbeing of expecting and new parents.

Screens can really upset our sleep, and disrupt other hormones including oestrogen, and there is absolutely no place for them in the bedroom. The next time your teens are pleading with you, desperately searching for the reason why you are turning off devices and locking them away in cupboards, get them to watch this 4 minute clip from SciShow

Dementia Awareness Month is Dementia Australia’s national awareness-raising campaign held every year throughout September. 

Its aim is to encourage all Australians to become more aware of dementia, to get a better understanding of what it is like to live with dementia and how we can support people living with dementia.

This year’s theme is Small actions Big difference.

There are many small actions people can take to create a big difference for people impacted by dementia, their families and carers. 

There are many ways to get involved in Dementia Awareness Month.

Earlier this month was OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and Anxiety Awareness week in Victoria. However, with nearly 240,000 people in Western Australia experiencing anxiety this year it seems really important to talk about anxiety disorders here as well.

The best way to learn about someone is to take the time to listen to their story, the best way to understand someone is to step into their shoes. It is important for all of us to feel understood, this way we break down barriers and we find solutions. August brings a time to build our awareness of anxiety disorders, so, first, we went looking for real people’s descriptions of what anxiety feels like:

In one article from The Independent a woman explained the constant feeling of being anxious ‘as if she tripped and the moment where you don't know if you are going to catch yourself or not is how she felt all day long', and someone else describes ‘[It’s like] when you tap your pocket to get your wallet, and it is not there (and like the woman above said), it’s like that all the time.’

For some, particularly those living right now with a chronic pain experience, this may be a painful question to read…it may be one that has been posed by a health professional sitting across a desk in front of you…it may have felt, and still feel, unfathomable that they could have said that to you…they may not have known the truth in their statement, but we are going to explain it to you now. We feel pretty confident you will feel better informed, and hopefully, even a bit better after you have thought about it…

I have just returned from The 2018 International Neurorehabilitation Conference in Boston run by Harvard Medical School. I was one of hundreds of delegates from all over the world attending to get the latest updates on cutting-edge treatments to help people with brain problems. We had experts presenting on a large range of topics ranging from neuroplasticity to proven and state-of-the-art brain therapies.

In the past, treatment for ADHD has been limited to stimulant. However prior research has shown that the effects of medications tend to decrease after 2 years of use and may also cause side-effects such as anxiety, nausea and difficulties with sleep.

Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.

Wouldn't it is amazing to be able to “look inside” your brain and see how it’s working ? Well, thanks to brain research is now possible to do just this with special brain imaging known as QEEG. Scientists have been able to measure the activity from our brain since the 1930s, and this is known as EEG (or brainwaves), which is still used today to help diagnose conditions such as epilepsy.

Two thirds of the population believes a myth that has been propagated for over a century: that we use only 10% of our brains. Hardly! Our neuron-dense brains have evolved to use the least amount of energy while carrying the most information possible -- a feat that requires the entire brain. Richard E. Cytowic debunks this neurological myth (and explains why we aren’t so good at multitasking).

This amazing video from The Allen Institute for Brain Research (<link to https://www.alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/brain-science/ > takes us a visually stunning view of the brain, all the way from the outside to the the tiniest cells (and smaller still) on the inside: https://youtu.be/Zj3RxtJ_Ljc

The Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) is an independent collaborative of scientists, health professionals, scholars and policy experts from around the world working in areas of brain health related to human cognition. The GCBH focuses on brain health relating to peoples’ ability to think and reason as they age, including aspects of memory, perception and judgment. The GCBH is convened by AARP with support from Age UK to offer the best possible advice about what older adults can do to maintain and improve their brain health. GCBH members come together to discuss specific lifestyle issue areas that may impact peoples’ brain health as they age with the goal of providing evidence-based recommendations for people to consider incorporating into their lives.

This week is the start of International Brain Awareness Ween 2018 ! Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research, and the “brain-child” of The DANA Foundation (www.dana.org). The Perth Brain Centre is proud to be an official partner of International Brain Awareness Week 2018, and every day we will be sharing some of the amazing benefits of brain research.

International Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is the global campaign to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. The Perth Brain Centre is an official partner of International Brain Awareness Week, which starts on the 12 March this year.

Good quality sleep is vital for both general well-being but also especially brain health. While we sleep the brain “rests and repairs” helping to prepare us for the next day ahead. Studies show that sleep improves our cognitive function - Helping us to think better and faster, be more creative, make better decisions and solve problems, and improve our attention and memory.

In our last article we explored how having, growing and repairing a healthy brain can be and should be FUN! We talk about a healthy brain in the sense of what it is made of, how it is built and how it works. Most importantly it can be invigorating and enjoyable regardless of your age. 

Having, growing and repairing a healthy brain – healthy in the sense of what it is made of, how it is built and how it works – can be and should be FUN! Most importantly it can be invigorating and enjoyable regardless of your age.

Could you or someone you know benefit from reduced stress and anxiety? Looking for a drug free, non intrusive way to help?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common problem that results in a wide range of difficulties for both children and adults.