Showing posts with label stimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stimming. Show all posts

Friday, May 20, 2011

Some TV is Good for Our Kids!

Please enjoy this article about television use for our children.

The Selective Use of TV and Videos for Advancing the Development of Special Needs, Typical and Accelerated Preschool Children
Robert J. Doman Jr.
From The NACD Foundation, Volume 19 No. 5, 2006 ©NACD
TV/Videos and The Preschool Child
For over twenty-five years, the National Association for Child Development (NACD) has had the opportunity to serve a large, international caseload of children covering the entire functional spectrum. Our work with innovating ways to accelerate the development of children with profound developmental issues (such as brain injury, autism and Down syndrome) has provided us with significant insight into the development and education of typical and highly capable children as well. Because NACD trains parents to work directly with their own children, we are privy to the structure of the child’s day, diet, and free time activities as well as their developmental, educational and therapeutic input and opportunities. Our unique position has afforded us the opportunity to find out, quite simply, what works.
We have found that carefully selected television programs, commercially available videos, and individually designed videos can be powerful tools for advancing the development of preschool children across the spectrum—from the severely developmentally delayed to the highly capable and gifted.

Using Television to Develop Visual Function

Our years of working on ways to improve visual function have yielded a number of techniques of visual stimulation. Many of these techniques have proven to be helpful not only in the development of vision but also as educational tools. One of these techniques involves the use of television. Below we offer a brief explanation of some fundamentals of child development, and specifically visual development—including some common problems that occur—to provide a framework for understanding how and why television, properly used, can be an important tool for helping even very young children develop and learn.
To develop well a child needs to follow a specific path and to move through the normal developmental steps fairly rapidly. At each stage of development there are specific things that the brain is learning to do. The brain will tend to keep working at a stage until the next piece starts to kick in. Staying too long in one stage is not a good thing. In normal development we see all children start off life as visualizers, meaning that they think in pictures not words. They think in pictures because words have no meaning. In normal development the ability to process language starts kicking in within six months or so, and the child begins to think in both pictures (visualizing) and words (conceptualizing). If it all happens as it should, language starts to develop, and we end up with a good balance between the ability to think in pictures and the ability to think in words.
Vision develops essentially the same way in all children although at different rates. The peripheral vision develops first, followed by the central (macular) vision. You avoid running into doorframes with your peripheral vision; you see detail, and learn, with your central vision. When reading a book, you are using your central vision. When looking at someone across a table, you see their face in detail using your central vision while the rest of the room is slightly blurred because only the small circumference of that face fits within your central visual field. One good way to recognize your central versus peripheral vision is to recall the after-effect of a flashbulb going off in your face. Your macula, the area responsible for your central vision, is located in a small spot on your retina, and it is very photo/light sensitive. When that flashbulb goes off it temporally bleaches out your macula so that you lose your central vision. The spots you see are actually temporary blind spots where your central vision should be. The development of your central/macular vision is very important to many aspects of learning and overall development. Many of the problems exhibited by children diagnosed with developmental delays result from the lack of properly developed central vision.

Problems with Visual Function in Autistic Children

One of the most common characteristics of autistic children is the lack of development of the central vision. Autistic children do not make good eye contact—not because they don’t like you, but because when they look directly at you they can’t see you. Autistic children typically have hyper (enhanced) peripheral vision and hypo (diminished) central vision. Therefore, they experience the visual world more through their peripheral vision and less clearly or not at all through their central vision. They display this lack of visual development in another characteristic commonly associated with many autistic children: They don’t watch television. Many will stand directly in front of a TV and bounce or display excitement in other ways, but they are not “watching” the TV, they are “stimming” with the TV. Essentially what the child is doing is engaging in a form of repetitive sensory play that amounts to “playing with what is broken” in their vision (i.e., their vision is not functioning properly because the central vision is undeveloped, therefore they are playing with—and reinforcing—their peripheral vision only).

The Danger of Stimming—“Debilitating Sensory Addictive Behavior”

There are many forms of repetitive sensory play, and all fall under the informal heading of “stimming,” short for self-stimulating behavior. NACD has developed new terminology for this behavior, which we call “Debilitating Sensory Addictive Behavior,” because of the addictive nature of the behavior and how detrimental it is to development and even to the structure of the brain itself.
Children can engage in Debilitating Sensory Addictive Behavior with any “broken” or underdeveloped sensory channel. Engaging in these repetitive behaviors actually becomes addictive, much like an addiction to a drug. As the child engages in the behavior his brain produces endorphins—which are feel-good chemicals that can become as addictive as narcotics. The more a child engages in the behavior, the more endorphins are produced, and the stronger the addiction becomes. Unfortunately, not only is the child becoming addicted to a useless behavior, he is reinforcing what is already wrong with his sensory system. As described above, kids stimming with television are strengthening their peripheral vision and failing to develop the central vision.
Autistic children (and other children with visual delays) learn a variety of ways to “stim” with their peripheral vision. They often become adept at spinning objects or flipping anything that is not nailed down in an effort to get their “fix.” NACD has discovered, however, that although the TV typically provides an autistic child with an opportunity to “stim,” the TV can also be utilized very specifically as a tool to develop the central vision. Developing the central vision is the key to normalizing the vision so that learning—rather than stimming—can occur. TV is, in fact, such a great tool for the development of central vision that if it did not already exist as an instrument for entertainment we would have had to create it as a therapeutic tool.

Early Stimulation of the Central/Macular Vision is Crucial to the Development of Children within the First Two Years of Life

As mentioned earlier, all children’s vision develops pretty much in the same sequence. Peripheral vision first, followed by central vision. Typical babies begin life using their peripheral vision; then, as they receive specific opportunities/stimulation to use their central vision, it develops as well. (It is no accident that nature’s survival system for babies is designed to place them eight to twelve inches from their mother’s face when being fed and held.)
A typical baby deprived of specific opportunities/stimulation will be slow to develop their central vision, and if they are very deprived of these opportunities they are in danger of becoming globally developmentally delayed. To some degree all babies “stim” simply because early on it is the only thing they can do. If they fail to develop the global neurological maturity needed to engage in exploratory or play behaviors, they become increasingly adept at stimming, and their development slows or stops. Early stimulation of the central/macular vision is crucial to the development of children within the first two years of life.

How Reading to Your Child Stimulates Development: Vision, Language, Sequential Processing

It is often said that if you can’t do anything else with your baby, read to them. As most parents discover, “reading” to babies and very young children involves not so much reading text as it does looking at picture books with them, pointing to or directing their vision to specific pictures (or, if you will, teaching them to use their central vision). The closer something is to a child, the more the child’s central vision is engaged and the less peripheral distraction there is.
No one questions the importance of reading to children, but it is important to look at the development that occurs throughout the process. When you read to your child there are the obvious psychological/bonding /nurturing benefits. There are also very significant auditory benefits. Essentially, we use reading to teach children a “foreign” language—their first language. Initially we point to a single object and name it “puppy,” then we expand the information as the child’s receptive language skills develop, and it becomes “black puppy,” then “little black puppy.” We proceed along, matching visual information (the pictures) to the auditory cues (the words). In so doing we are not only teaching language, we are also developing a vitally important neurological function—we are developing the child’s ability to take in and manipulate pieces of auditory and visual information in a sequence. This ability to process information is called “sequential processing.”

NACD Innovates Methods of Developing Sequential Processing

At NACD we have been investigating and working on methodologies to build and develop auditory and visual sequential processing, as these are the basic components that give us access to our innate intelligence. (NACD has actually started an international initiative to raise the sequential processing skills of people all over the world through a program called “The Project 9 +/-2.”) We have found the act of reading to a young child—or showing a child pictures and naming them—achieves a vital step in the developmental process.

Stimulating Central Vision

How much does a young child learn from a book or picture card twelve to eighteen inches from their eyes as opposed to things placed further away around the room? NACD’s findings suggest that a young child learns a lot from things placed at the distance of a book being read, and much less from things across the room. When we bring a book up to a child we are pulling it into their central visual field. At twelve inches the child may be seeing a significant part of the page in detail, and with the peripheral field being limited it is relatively easy for the child to attend and to see the image. If you held a book out ten feet and had the child look at it, you would find the child’s attention would generally be much shorter and more difficult to hold because, at that distance, the child would have difficulty locating the image within his central visual field. This is because when attempting to see a small object held at a ten-foot distance, perhaps 95% of the child’s visual field would be peripheral, not central. Remember, peripheral vision develops before central vision, so for young children, particularly those under two years of age, their focus is constantly pulled to those things around the periphery. In other words, they are “visually distracted” or “distractible.” The more visually distracted the child is, the less she will pay attention to visual cues, thus the less attention she will pay to the information being “taught,” and the less stimulation and development of the central/macular vision will occur.

Will My Child Learn More in Preschool than at Home?

At NACD we have been privileged to work with some of the most motivated and informed parents in the world. All of the families we work with—be they parents of children with significant developmental issues or parents of “typical” children—wish to help their children achieve their innate potential. They come to us because they want to assume the primary responsibility for their child’s development and education. They want the best for their children and use schools and outside services only as an adjunct to what they do at home with their children. For many of these exceptional families one of their first big decisions is if and when to start their children in daycare or preschool situations.
Ultimately the answer comes down to the needs and resources of the family. But, one of the questions asked more often than not is, “Is my preschool child going to learn more at a school than at home?” The younger the child, the simpler the answer because the younger the child the more they need direct, one-on-one contact and interaction. The younger the child, the more specific the developmental/educational input needs to be. In general, nothing beats one-on-one teaching. Teaching one child at a time permits the input to be designed to fit the individual; it also permits virtually immediate modification of the input in response to the child. Most parents are not even aware of how often and how rapidly they modify what they are doing with their child when they are interacting one-on-one. For example, if you observe a parent looking at a book with their child you will see the parent constantly responding to the child’s cues. If the parent picked a book with more text than the child can process, you will see the parent start to simplify the story or even start just pointing at the pictures and talking about them; they may even put the book away and get another or go to something else altogether, naturally and spontaneously modifying the input to fit the child. The further you get from the 1:1 teacher to student ratio, the more difficult it becomes to provide children with the specific, appropriate input needed to stimulate their brains and maximize their developmental progress.

The Significance of the Learning Environment

There are tremendous differences in the quality of preschool learning environments.
Preschool children are easily distracted and have short attention spans. It comes with the territory. Preschoolers have short attention spans because their sequential processing skills have not yet developed to where they can process a lot of associated pieces of information. They can move from this to that, taking in little pieces and chunks of information, but they cannot attend to one subject for a long time if their processing is not up to the task.
The significance of the learning environment cannot be overstated for children at this age. The more distractions there are in the environment, the more difficult it is for young children to filter out the extraneous input and focus their attention, even if there is something in the environment that is appropriate to their learning level. How many adults would attempt to study new information in an environment containing the distractions that exist in a room full of preschool children and a lot of “fun stuff?”
Many parents ask about putting their children in schools and situations with other children so that they can learn from the other children. NACD recommends parents be very selective about such situations. The better organized and structured the environment is, and the fewer visual and auditory distractions in the environment, the better the odds are that any child will in fact learn something specific and appropriate.

Learning Occurs when Specific Input is Provided with Sufficient Frequency, Intensity and Duration—Random Input is Distracting

In any given environment a child will generally learn that which is being presented with the greatest intensity. Imagine a room with fifteen or twenty children where a few are playing in a sand box, a couple are looking at books, a few more are painting, a group are huddled around a teacher reading to them, and one is throwing a humongous tantrum because he can’t have the truck he wants. Guess what is being presented with the greatest intensity—and guess what is being learned? The reality is that for most preschool-aged children in a room with many other kids, a myriad of toys, and a lot going on, it is very difficult for them to learn what we would like them to learn. Learning/development occurs when we provide the brain with specific appropriate input, and the input must be provided with sufficient frequency, intensity and duration. Random input is distracting, and random extraneous input does not stimulate neurological development or the learning process.

Using Video Tapes to Teach

I have been known to tell parents to save their money and not send their child to the preschool, but to go to the preschool and videotape a child doing the things they would like their child to learn. Video tape a child climbing the slide, doing the monkey bars, riding the trike, drawing a circle, taking off their coat—doing any of the things they would like their child to learn from another child—then let their child watch it at home.
I used to do a lot of all-day seminars. We would start off with my speaking throughout the morning, then take a lunch break, and, because we had a lot of information to give the attendees in a day, we would show a video of me speaking during lunch. After lunch, we would follow up with me speaking live throughout the afternoon. A lot of me! After we had done a number of these seminars I started to watch the attendees during the lunch break, and it became evident that they paid better attention to me on the video than when I was standing in front of them. The videos were no great production—they were simply a talking head, my talking head, the same head they had been hearing all morning—but the audience seemed more focused and less distracted watching me on TV than when I was standing in front of them. Once we recognized this phenomenon, our first thought was that our society is in big trouble because we have become so trained to watch the tube that these adults were simply reflecting that training. (To some degree that may be true—I don’t think too many people would argue that the use of audiovisual media has been abused, particularly with children, and that the majority of the content is garbage.) But the answer was not so simple as that. We wanted to understand what was going on in the brain that would make people pay more attention to a person on TV than to the same person standing live before them. One of the questions we asked ourselves in order to find the explanation was, “Who does not watch television, and why not?”
Well, experience had shown us that many autistic children do not “watch” television; little babies do not watch television; many children with obvious visual issues do not watch television; many children with globally low developmental function do not watch television; and, except for brief moments on Animal Planet, my dogs don’t watch television. And what do all of these examples of individuals who do not watch TV have in common? They all have poor or underdeveloped central/macular vision.
As we looked further into this and explored the development of attention to television in our children, we came to the realization that television provides a unique form of visual stimulation. The images on television can only be perceived using central/macular vision; one cannot process the information on the screen with peripheral vision. Children with poor or underdeveloped macular vision do not attend to television because they cannot see it; the image provides them with no meaningful information.

NACD Discovers TV Can Be a Powerful Tool for Visual Therapy and More

We decided if we needed to develop central/macular vision then perhaps we needed a specific instrument that required the use of that vision—the TV. We started having parents sit in darkened rooms about two or three feet from the TV, with their “blind” or visually impaired, or autistic, or delayed, or simply young children, and we “taught” them to watch TV. For content we used whatever we felt would best attract the individual child’s attention. We used a lot of homemade videos of everything from Mom talking directly to the child to videos of themselves or siblings, to spinning objects and black and white shapes. We incorporated their favorite music and voices and in general used whatever we felt might attract their attention. In the vast majority of cases the children would first glance at the TV and then, generally, over a relatively short period start attending for longer and longer periods of time. Within a short time the children did start to attend to the television and develop their central vision. They then began to make eye contact, and look at books and pictures better, and in fact do all the things they should be doing with their central vision to learn about their environment. In autistic children we saw a significant decrease in the visual sensory play (Debilitating Sensory Addictive Behaviors) and a corresponding improvement in their overall function.
Not only were we discovering that the children’s visual function was improving, but because of the content we were using, the auditory and language skills were developing as well. Once we had the children attending to the TV, we started to experiment with content, and many of the programs we designed for families began containing various therapeutic and educational videos.

TV Screen Holds Visual Attention, Helps Brain Tune Out Peripheral Distractions

So, back to my mesmerized audience, why did they attend so well to the talking head on TV? We found the answer, once again, by working with our clients. As we began to use therapeutic videos, we were happy to see that many children learned exceptionally well using the methodology, but we were surprised to find that many parents were having the same experience I had at my seminars. The children were often attending better and learning better from the videos than when the family was actually presenting the information live! We were learning that not only is television a great tool for developing central vision in children, but it really is an outstanding educational tool.
Observing our audiences’ and clients’ responses taught us that television—and computer—screens provide stronger macular input than other images. As I am writing this article my vision is focused upon my computer screen. The screen offers such strong macular stimuli that my brain almost entirely tunes out the peripheral field. If I look up from my screen to my coffee cup, for example, not only do I see the cup, but also my vision gets pulled out to everything else that is cluttering up my desk because the cup does not have the same power as the computer does to hold my central vision. Now, when I switch off my computer screen and look across my office to a twelve-inch television (not turned on) that is sitting on my credenza, my vision is pulled to the books, pictures and various memorabilia I have on my shelves. The TV before it is turned on has no more—and probably less—power to hold my attention than most anything else. But, turn the television on and everything else goes away. If I turn the TV off again and look at the credenza, most everything there has the same ability to attract or detract from my visual attention. We can safely assume that for a young child who is just developing their central vision, the peripheral distraction they have to deal with is significantly more compelling than mine.

Videos are Powerful Learning Tools—Content Counts

As NACD learned to use therapeutic and educational videos, we encouraged families to make their own videos. These included close-ups of Mom saying words and emphasizing the various sounds heard in the English language; showing objects and naming them; filming animals and naming them; modeling directions being followed; modeling progressions in expressive language; modeling self-help skills; showing children how to crawl, ride a bike, and do long division. We have found this kind of video to be an excellent tool for stimulating development and teaching knowledge and skills.
In recent years, commercially prepared videos and DVD’s have been developed specifically for babies and young children. Some are really good, and some not so good. If the content is good—that is, it is teaching the child to identify a letter or a number, or to differentiate between a cow and a horse, or modeling appropriate actions and behaviors, that is all fine. I believe commercial producers are just beginning to scratch the surface relative to content, and they have a long way to go before they really understand the best ways to present the information. However, the tool exists, and it is powerful.
It is important for parents to understand that videos can be an extremely useful tool in the education of young children, but they should be selected carefully and used judiciously. There certainly can be too much of a good thing. And, any amount of a bad thing is too much! I personally find most children’s television programming to be horrendous. In the language of computers, “Garbage in—garbage out.” Content counts.
I also find that parents are spending far too little time interacting with their children. It seems our society subtly pressures parents to abdicate the responsibility for their child’s development and education to the “professionals.” I personally do not perceive most daycare and preschool programs as a good thing. So few of them recognize or provide an optimal environment for neurological development and learning. In our current culture they are a necessary reality for many families in which both parents need to work. However, we must not kid ourselves into thinking that having a two-year-old spend eight hours a day in preschool/daycare is a good substitute for quality time spent with parents. When it comes to helping young children learn and grow, the more one-on-one interaction the better.

Informed Parental Involvement is the Key to Good Child Development

I often comment that those of us who function reasonably well are lucky accidents, and those who don’t are not so lucky. The reason I feel this way is that most parents do not have much of a clue as to what pieces need to come together for their children to end up having their neurological act together, and, unfortunately, it appears most professionals do not either.
We can continue to throw more money at education, increase the hours children spend in school, and develop yet more reading and math programs that are not significantly different than the thousand that preceded them, but until we get back to parents taking a primary role in teaching their children, and acknowledge the necessity of providing individual attention and an environment that nurtures neurological development, we are going to continue to see our children fail to achieve their innate potentials.
To stimulate a brain—to teach a child—we need to provide specific, developmentally appropriate input. If we provide a child with appropriate input in an appropriate environment, not only will learning occur but the brain will learn how to process more information better. It is up to parents to make sure that information is of a quality that enhances the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth of our children. Parents who do so are their children’s heroes, and the children of such parents are our society’s hope for the future.
Reprinted from the Journal of The NACD Foundation (formerly The National Academy for Child Development)

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Bacopa Monera Extract (BME)

I heard on Dr. Usman's presentation during the Down syndrome track at AutismOne about how Bacopa Monera can help our kids with stimming. (See: her presentation on Exploring Options for Down Syndrome, brought to you by Down Syndrome OPTIONs). So, I thought I'd give it a try. We were having issues with Jett running in circles and talking non-stop. Usually, we address this with vestibular neurodevelopmental work, but it was in the dead of winter and we were having difficulty getting him enough vestibular stimulation. After about two weeks, we saw these two stimms completely stop. The stimms stay away as long as he's on Bacopa and comes back in about three days upon stopping it. I also saw that he is more affectionate on Bacopa. Asking us for hugs everyday whereas before, it was very rare that he was cuddly. Again, this could be because it's cold weather and he wants to be warm, LOL! But, I do really think (hope) that it's genuine affection.

Now, I'm wondering if potty training issues can be helped by using Bacopa. It seems that controlling urine may be related to cortisol.  Jett's been potty trained for #2 since 10 months old, but #1 only since he was the later part of 3 years old. Well, I recently ran out of bacopa (which helps regulate cortisol) and switched to Gaia ginkgo (also can lower cortisol levels but the brand turns out to be 1/24 of the potency of what I was previously giving Jett)... A mom mentioned sudden regression in potty training with her daughter. I asked if she had recently switched to Gaia brand too and she had as well. When I looked up symptoms of a possible incontinence/high cortisol connection, I came across this same issue in dogs w/high cortisol. They stop being potty trained because the amount of urine is increased when cortisol is high and they don't know how to deal with it. The dogs also have the pot bellies and walk around in circles (which Jett does off bacopa). So, for Jett, anyway, I think this is the case. The bacopa came a couple of days ago so hopefully this will end soon! He just can't seem to control it. When I talk with him, he says, yes, he'll tell me when he has to go potty but then he doesn't. (He's too short to go by himself.)  I wonder if high cortisol levels are why a lot of kids w/DS take so long to potty train?

Update: During the later part of 6 years old, Jett no longer muscle tested as needing bacopa and when I stopped giving it, he no longer ran in circles or verbally stimmed. I'm thinking that his adrenals (what controls release of cortisol) are healing so he no longer needs this extra support.

Overview
  • An Ayurvedic medicinal herb used traditionally as a revitalizing herb, primarily for enhancing cognitive functioning.
  • Memory Enhancer. Human studies conducted on seventy six adults, between the ages of 40 and 65, showed significant improvements in memory retention of learning new information.
  • Neuro Protection. Acting as a powerful neuron antioxidant, BME was shown to provide significant protection against free radical induced toxicity of the neurons as well as a protector of DNA against damage. Further protection was demonstrated for aluminum induced oxidative stress, and against excitotoxcity elicited in epileptic rats.
  • Anti-Depressant. BME was found to provide important antidepressant activity in animal studies.
  • Reduction in beta-amyloid deposits in the brain (as is characteristic of Alzheimer’ disease), in animal research. The authors suggest that such mechanisms of action may have application in Alzheimer’s.
  • Enhance learning and academic performance, improve mental alertness, and sharpen short and long-term memory.
  • The scientific literature reports that Bacopa monniera can enhance mental focus in stressful situations, and improve mental clarity and mood.
  • An animal study investigating the effects of botanicals on the thyroid found Bacopa increased T4 (Thyroid Hormone) levels by 41 percent, suggesting a thyroid-stimulating (If you do give this to your child, be sure to watch for signs of hyperthyroidism although many of our children can't convert T4 to T3 anyway!)
    http://www.raysahelian.com/bacopa.html
Helps regulate cortisol levels. See http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/bacopa_balances_neurotransmitters_and_cortisol/

For Products, see the DS Day to Day Store
Himalaya brand makes a Bacopa that is organic and additive free, but has mostly whole plant, so, for Jett is caused a rash on his stomach. But then he got NAET for it and then he took the same product just fine. And, through muscle testing, it revealed that he still needed it.

Paradise Herbs Bacopa We've tried this brand as well and really liked it. It's in capsule form and is easy to add to his applesauce, so this is what he is now taking with much success.
I also got the vitacost brand of Bacopa (it was buy one get one half off) but wasn't happy with it. It just doesn't seem to be as strong or potent. I had to give him 3 capsules a day (morning, noon and night) so I didn't buy it again.

Be sure to get $10 off your first Vitacost vitamin order.

Dosage

Dosage on the Paradise Herb bottle for adults is 250mg (but daily value is not established).

Before I knew how to muscle test, I experimented with dosage until I found the right one for Jett. I tried 1/4 a capsule for a couple of days and since the symptoms didn't go away, I increased to 1/2 a capsule for a couple of days, then 1 capsule and then when I got to two capsules, his symptoms disappeared. Every once in a while, I'd give him less to see how low the dose could go without symptoms appearing.

Research

Neuroprotective role of Bacopa monniera extract against aluminium-induced oxidative stress in the hippocampus of rat brain.

Jyoti A, Sharma D.

Neurobiology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi 110067, India.

Bacopa monniera is a nerve tonic used extensively in traditional Indian
medicinal system "Ayurveda". Reports regarding its various antioxidative,
adaptogenic and memory enhancing roles have already appeared in the last few
decades. In the present study, aluminium chloride (AlCl(3)) was used to
generate neurotoxicity. We have investigated the neuroprotective effect of
Bacopa extract against aluminium-induced changes in peroxidative products,
such as thio-barbituric acid-reactive substance (TBA-RS) and protein
carbonyl contents and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Effect on
lipofuscin (age pigments) accumulation and ultrastructural changes were also
studied. Bacopa effects were compared with those of l-deprenyl.
Co-administration of Bacopa extract during aluminium treatment significantly
prevented the aluminium-induced decrease in SOD activity as well as the
increased oxidative damage to lipids and proteins. Protective effect was
also observed at microscopic level. Fluorescence and electron microscopic
studies revealed considerable inhibition of intraneuronal lipofuscin
accumulation and necrotic alteration in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.
Observations showed that Bacopa's neuroprotective effects were comparable to
those of l-deprenyl at both biochemical and microscopic levels.

Anti-inflammatory activity of Bacopa monniera in rodents.

Channa S, Dar A, Anjum S, Yaqoob M, Atta-Ur-Rahman.

Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Frontier Medical College,
Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The ethanol extract of Bacopa monniera (Scrophulariaceae) exhibited marked
anti-inflammatory activity against carrageenan-induced paw edema in mice and
rats, an acute inflammatory model. To assess the possible mechanism of
anti-inflammatory action against carrageenan, the ethanol extract was
treated with chemical mediators (histamine, serotonin, bradykinin,
prostaglandin E(2) and arachidonic acid)-induced edema in rats. The extract
selectively inhibited prostaglandin E(2)-induced inflammation. Thus, it may
be inferred that B. monniera possesses significant anti-inflammatory
activity that may well be relevant for its effectiveness in the healing of
various inflammatory conditions in traditional medicine.


Bacopa monniera, a reputed nootropic plant: an overview.

Russo A, Borrelli F.

Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical Chemistry and Molecular Biology,
University of Catania, Catania, Italy. alrusso@unict.it

Bacopa monniera (BM), a traditional Ayurvedic medicine, used for centuries
as a memory enhancing, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, sedative
and antiepileptic agent. The plant, plant extract and isolated bacosides
(the major active principles) have been extensively investigated in several
laboratories for their neuropharmacological effects and a number of reports
are available confirming their nootropic action. In addition, researchers
have evaluated the anti-inflammatory, cardiotonic and other pharmacological
effects of BM preparations/extracts. Therefore, in view of the important
activities performed by this plant, investigation must be continued in the
recently observed actions described in this paper. Moreover, other clinical
studies have to be encouraged, also to evidence any side effects and
possible interactions between this herbal medicine and synthetic drugs.


Free radical scavenging capacity and protective effect of Bacopa monniera L.
on DNA damage.

Russo A, Izzo AA, Borrelli F, Renis M, Vanella A.

Department of Biochemistry, Medical Chemistry and Molecular Biology,
University of Catania, V.le A. Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy.

Bacopa monniera L. (family Scrophulariaceae) (BM) is an Ayurvedic medicine,
clinically used for memory enhancing, epilepsy, insomnia and as a mild
sedative. In this work, the free radical scavenging capacity of a methanol
extract of BM and the effect on DNA cleavage induced by H2O2 UV-photolysis
was investigated. In addition, we examined whether this plant extract is
capable of reducing the hydrogen peroxide-induced cytotoxicity and DNA
damage in human non-immortalized fibroblasts. It showed a dose-dependent
free radical scavenging capacity and a protective effect on DNA cleavage.
These results were confirmed by a significant protective effect on
H2O2-induced cytoxicity and DNA damage in human non-immortalized
fibroblasts. The antioxidant capacity of BM may explain, at least in part,
the reported antistress, immunomodulatory, cognition-facilitating,
antiinflammatory and antiaging effects produced by it in experimental
animals and in clinical situations and may justify further investigation of
its other beneficial properties. Moreover, this experimental evidence
suggests that because of its antioxidant activity, this Ayurvedic drug may
be useful in the treatment of human pathologies in which free radical
production plays a key role. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Chronic effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) on human memory.

Roodenrys S, Booth D, Bulzomi S, Phipps A, Micallef C, Smoker J.

Department of Psychology, University of Wollongong, Woolongong, Australia.

A study is reported on the effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monniera) on human
memory. Seventy-six adults aged between 40 and 65 years took part in a
double-blind randomized, placebo control study in which various memory
functions were tested and levels of anxiety measured. There were three
testing sessions: one prior to the trial, one after three months on the
trial, and one six weeks after the completion of the trial. The results show
a significant effect of the Brahmi on a test for the retention of new
information. Follow-up tests showed that the rate of learning was
unaffected, suggesting that Brahmi decreases the rate of forgetting of newly
acquired information. Tasks assessing attention, verbal and visual
short-term memory and the retrieval of pre-experimental knowledge were
unaffected. Questionnaire measures of everyday memory function and anxiety
levels were also unaffected.


Relative efficacy of three medicinal plant extracts in the alteration of
thyroid hormone concentrations in male mice.

Kar A, Panda S, Bharti S.

Thyroid Research Unit, School of Life Sciences, Devi Ahilya University,
Vigyan Bhawan, Khandwa Road, Indore 452 017, India.

Relative importance of Bacopa monnieri (200 mg/kg), Aegle marmelos (1.00
g/kg) and Aloe vera (125 mg/kg) leaf extracts in the regulation of thyroid
hormone concentrations in male mice was investigated. While serum levels of
both T(3) and T(4) were inhibited by A. vera, A. marmelos extract could
decrease only T(3) concentration. On the other hand, T(4) concentration was
increased by B. monnieri extract suggesting its thyroid-stimulating role.
When the relative potency of each plant extract was calculated in terms of
percent increase or decrease in thyroid hormones, as compared to the control
value, the decrease in T(3) concentration by A. marmelos was about 62%
indicating its possible use in the regulation of hyperthyroidism. B.
monnieri could increase T(4) concentration by 41% without enhancing hepatic
lipid peroxidation (LPO) suggesting that it can be used as a
thyroid-stimulating drug. In fact, hepatic LPO was decreased and superoxide
dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities were increased by B. monnieri
and A. marmelos leaf extracts showing their antiperoxidative role. It is
thus suggested that A. marmelos and A. vera may be used in the regulation of
hyperthyroidism, while B. monnieri in hypothyroidism.


A review of nutrients and botanicals in the integrative management of
cognitive dysfunction.

Kidd PM.

Dementias and other severe cognitive dysfunction states pose a daunting
challenge to existing medical management strategies. An integrative, early
intervention approach seems warranted. Whereas, allopathic treatment options
are highly limited, nutritional and botanical therapies are available which
have proven degrees of efficacy and generally favorable benefit-to-risk
profiles. This review covers five such therapies: phosphatidylserine (PS),
acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC), vinpocetine, Ginkgo biloba extract (GbE), and
Bacopa monniera (Bacopa). PS is a phospholipid enriched in the brain,
validated through double-blind trials for improving memory, learning,
concentration, word recall, and mood in middle-aged and elderly subjects
with dementia or age-related cognitive decline. PS has an excellent
benefit-to-risk profile. ALC is an energizer and metabolic cofactor which
also benefits various cognitive functions in the middle-aged and elderly,
but with a slightly less favorable benefit-to-risk profile. Vinpocetine,
found in the lesser periwinkle Vinca minor, is an excellent vasodilator and
cerebral metabolic enhancer with proven benefits for vascular-based
cognitive dysfunction. Two meta-analyses of GbE demonstrate the best
preparations offer limited benefits for vascular insufficiencies and even
more limited benefits for Alzheimer's, while "commodity" GbE products offer
little benefit, if any at all. GbE (and probably also vinpocetine) is
incompatible with blood-thinning drugs. Bacopa is an Ayurvedic botanical
with apparent anti-anxiety, anti-fatigue, and memory-strengthening effects.
These five substances offer interesting contributions to a personalized
approach for restoring cognitive function, perhaps eventually in conjunction
with the judicious application of growth factors.

Antioxidant activity of Bacopa monniera in rat frontal cortex, striatum and
hippocampus.

Bhattacharya SK, Bhattacharya A, Kumar A, Ghosal S.

Department of Phamacology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi - 221005, India.

The effect of a standardized extract of Bacopa monniera Linn. was assessed
on rat brain frontal cortical, striatal and hippocampal superoxide dismutase
(SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities, following
administration for 7, 14 or 21 days. The effects induced by this extract
(bacoside A content 82% +/- 0.5%), administered in doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg,
orally, were compared with the effects induced by (-) deprenyl (2 mg/kg, p.
o.) administered for the same time periods. Bacopa monniera (BM) induced a
dose-related increase in SOD, CAT and GPX activities, in all the brain
regions investigated, after 14 and 21 days of drug administration. On the
contrary, deprenyl induced an increase in SOD, CAT and GPX activities in the
frontal cortex and striatum, but not in the hippocampus, after treatment for
14 or 21 days. The results suggest that BM, like deprenyl, exhibits a
significant antioxidant effect after subchronic administration which, unlike
the latter, extends to the hippocampus as well. The results suggest that the
increase in oxidative free radical scavenging activity by BM may explain, at
least in part, the cognition- facilitating action of BM, recorded in
Ayurvedic texts, and demonstrated experimentally and clinically. Copyright
2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Antistress effects of bacosides of Bacopa monnieri: modulation of Hsp70
expression, superoxide dismutase and cytochrome P450 activity in rat brain.

Chowdhuri DK, Parmar D, Kakkar P, Shukla R, Seth PK, Srimal RC.

Industrial Toxicology Research Center, PO Box 80, M.G. Marg, Lucknow -
226001, UP, India.

The antistress effect of bacosides of Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri, BBM),
dissolved in distilled water, was -studied in adult male Sprague Dawley rats
by administering oral doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg for 7 consecutive days. In
half of the animals treated with 20 or 40 mg/kg of BBM, stress was given 2 h
after the last dose. Stress was also administered to the animals treated
with distilled water alone. BBM, at both doses, did not induce a significant
change in the expression of Hsp70 in any brain region studied while stress
alone produced a significant increase in the Hsp70 expression in all the
brain regions. A significant decrease in the activity of superoxide
dismutase (SOD) was evident in the hippocampus with the lower dose of BBM
and in animals given stress alone, while an increase in the activity of SOD
was observed in the brain regions with the higher dose of BBM. An increase
in the activity of cytochrome P450 (P450) dependent
7-pentoxyresorufin-o-
dealkylase (PROD) and 7-ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase
(EROD) was observed in all the brain regions after exposure to stress alone
and with both doses of BBM although the magnitude of induction of P450
expression was less with a higher dose of BBM. Interestingly, stress when
given to the animals pretreated with BBM for 7 days resulted in a decrease
in Hsp70 expression in all the brain regions with a significant decrease
occurring only in the hippocampus. Likewise the activity of SOD was found to
be further reduced in all the brain regions in the animals treated with the
lower dose of BBM followed by stress. However, when stress was given to the
animals pretreated with the higher dose of BBM, a significant increase in
the enzyme activity was observed in the cerebral cortex and in the rest of
the brain while the activity of SOD was reduced to a much greater extent in
the cerebellum and in the hippocampus. Likewise, the activity of P450
enzymes was found to be restored to almost control levels in the animals
given stress and pretreated with the higher dose of BBM, while a lesser
degree of induction, compared with animals treated with BBM or stress alone,
was observed in the animals pretreated with the lower dose of BBM and given
stress. The data indicate that BBM has potential to modulate the activities
of Hsp70, P450 and SOD thereby possibly allowing the brain to be prepared to
act under adverse conditions such as stress. Copyright 2002 John Wiley &
Sons, Ltd.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab
stract&list_uids=12410544&query_hl=17&itool=pubmed_docsum

Bacopa monniera Linn. extract modulates antioxidant and marker enzyme status
in fibrosarcoma bearing rats.

Rohini G, Sabitha KE, Devi CS.

Department of Biochemistry, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai 600
020, India.

Antioxidative property and tumor inhibitive property of B. monniera (20mg/kg
body wt, sc) was examined in 3-methylcholanthrene induced fibrosarcoma rats.
Antioxidant enzymes such as catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD),
glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and the levels of glutathione (GSH) and the
rate of lipid peroxidation (LPO) in the liver and kidney tissues were
assessed. A significant increase was noted for the rate of LPO with a
corresponding decrease in the antioxidant enzyme status in fibrosarcoma
bearing rats. In fibrosarcoma bearing rats, the tumor markers like lactate
dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), alanine transaminase (ALT),
aspartate transaminase (AST) and sialic acid (SA) were increased in the
serum. Treatment with B. monniera extract significantly increased the
antioxidant enzyme status, inhibited lipid peroxidation and reduced the
tumor markers. It can be concluded that B.monniera extract promotes the
antioxidant status, reduces the rate of lipid peroxidation and the markers
of tumor progression in the fibrosarcoma bearing rats

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab
stract&list_uids=15573526&query_hl=17&itool=pubmed_docsum

Source


References

1. McDaniel MA, et al. "Brain-specific" nutrients: a memory cure? Nutrition. 2003 Nov-Dec;19(11-12):957-75.
2. Roodenrys S, et al. Chronic effects of Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) on human memory. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2002 Aug;27(2):279-81.
3. Dhanasekaran M, et al. Neuroprotective mechanisms of ayurvedic antidementia botanical Bacopa monniera. Phytother Res. 2007 Oct;21(10):965-9.
4. Holcomb LA, et al. Bacopa monniera extract reduces amyloid levels in PSAPP mice. J Alzheimers Dis. 2006 Aug;9(3):243-51.
5. Russo A, et al. Free radical scavenging capacity and protective effect of Bacopa monniera L. on DNA damage. Neurotoxicology. 2006 Jul;27(4):451-7.
6. Jyoti A, et al. Neuroprotective role of Bacopa monniera extract against aluminium-induced oxidative stress in the hippocampus of rat brain. Neurotoxicology. 2006 Jul;27(4):451-7.
7. Khan R, et al. Decreased glutamate receptor binding and NMDA R1 gene expression in hippocampus of pilocarpine-induced epileptic rats: Neuroprotective role of Bacopa monnieri extract. Epilepsy Behav. 2008 Jan;12(1):54-60.
8. Sairam K, et al. Antidepressant activity of standardized extract of Bacopa monniera in experimental models of depression in rats. Phytomedicine. 2002 Apr;9(3):207-11.


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