Many parts of the athlete's body are important for performance, such as strong muscles and bones; healthy lungs and heart; and several sensory systems, including the vision, touch, and joint position senses, and the vestibular system for balance. However, the critical element for athletic performance is, "not what you have but how you use it." The organ that decides "how you use it" is the brain. This book explains how the brain allows the athlete to perform. The book starts with an outline of brain anatomy, which is necessary to understand how the brain functions. The book then outlines many critical aspects of the athlete's brain, including learning motor skills; decision-making; hand preference; visual perception of speed, distance, and direction; balance; emotions and mood. Finally, the book discusses the adverse influence of brain injuries.

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a perspective on apraxia that considers a link between the pathology of apraxia and normal motor skill. In addition, it is the intention of the authors to provide information that is theoretically interesting as well as clinically applicable. The book is a collection of papers by various authors working in the area of apraxia, almost exclusively with limb aparaxia specifically. Beginning with Hugo Liepman's work of the late 19th century, a cognitive neuropsychological model of limb apraxia is reviewed, the use of new technologies that are informative about the mechanisms of limb praxis are discussed, and issues related to research as well as clinical assessment/management of the disorder are provided. While acquired limb apraxia is the focus of the book, there are also chapters on handedness, developmental apraxia of speech, and disorders of handwriting.

In Creativity and the Brain, Kenneth Heilman explores the possible brain mechanisms which underlie creativity, by reviewing the existing evidence and putting forward new ideas. On the way, he discusses the relationships between creativity and intelligence, brain anatomy, neuropharmacology, addiction, handedness, sex differences, and mood states such as depression. He also addresses the effects of neurological disorders and aging, as well as the influence of environmental factors such as tolerance and nurturing. The book will be of interest to neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists and educators The engaging and succinct style of this book also make it appealing to students, and researchers from a variety of disciplines who have an interest in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying creativity.

Now in its Fifth Edition, Clinical Neuropsychology reviews the major neurobehavioral disorders associated with brain dysfunction and injury. Like previous editions of this book, the Fifth Edition focuses on the clinical presentation of the major neurobehavioral syndromes, including symptoms, signs, methods of assessment that are useful for diagnosis, and also their underlying anatomy, physiology, and pathology. The major behavioral disorders that are covered include aphasia, agraphia, alexia, amnesia, apraxia, neglect, executive disorders and dementia. The text also discusses advances in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. The authors attempt to explain the cognitive mechanisms that can account for specific symptoms and signs, and to provide new information about treatment and management. The authors have drawn from a wealth of new information and research that has emerged since the Fourth Edition was published in 2003. The editors have added a chapter on creativity to the Fifth Edition, since there has been increased interest in creativity, and brain disorders can either enhance or impair creativity. This text will be of value to clinicians, investigators, and students from a variety of disciplines, including neurology, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, and speech pathology.

In Creativity and the Brain, Kenneth Heilman explores the possible brain mechanisms which underlie creativity, by reviewing the existing evidence and putting forward new ideas. On the way, he discusses the relationships between creativity and intelligence, brain anatomy, neuropharmacology, addiction, handedness, sex differences, and mood states such as depression. He also addresses the effects of neurological disorders and aging, as well as the influence of environmental factors such as tolerance and nurturing.
The book will be of interest to neuroscientists, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists and educators The engaging and succinct style of this book also make it appealing to students, and researchers from a variety of disciplines who have an interest in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying creativity.

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a perspective on apraxia that considers a link between the pathology of apraxia and normal motor skill. In addition, it is the intention of the authors to provide information that is theoretically interesting as well as clinically applicable. The book is a collection of papers by various authors working in the area of apraxia, almost exclusively with limb aparaxia specifically. Beginning with Hugo Liepman's work of the late 19th century, a cognitive neuropsychological model of limb apraxia is reviewed, the use of new technologies that are informative about the mechanisms of limb praxis are discussed, and issues related to research as well as clinical assessment/management of the disorder are provided. While acquired limb apraxia is the focus of the book, there are also chapters on handedness, developmental apraxia of speech, and disorders of handwriting.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) are commonly viewed as the first and second most common types of dementia, respectively. The traditional paradigm has been to view and treat each illness as a separate entity with a separate pathophysiology. However, clinical and pathological studies suggest that the boundary separating AD and VaD, as well as their mild cognitive impairment (MCI) analogs, is not well defined. Thus, there is increased interest in viewing these diseases along a spectrum because of the significant overlap in the characterization and diagnosis of AD, VaD, and MCI. The focus of this edited volume is to examine how AD and VaD, as well as their MCI analogs, are best viewed as a heterogeneous, intersecting, if not a continuous disease state rather than separate, distinct entities. This book examines this approach by providing empirically based evidence, reviews of the literature, and chapters by key leaders in the field and will be of interest to clinical neuropsychologists and anyone studying or treating dementia in its many forms.

Disorders of Emotion in Neurologic Disease, Volume 183 in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology Series, informs clinicians on which neurologic diseases are likely to have a secondary effect on emotion, what to look for in diagnosis, and best practices for treatment. The book begins with an understanding of the neurological basis for emotions in order to better understand what goes awry in neurological disease. It then discusses specific neurologic diseases and disorders affecting emotion.

This important subject of Diagnosis of and Treatment for Neurobehavioral manifestations of neurologic disease is directed by three leaders of this field - Dr. Alizeza Minagar, Dr. Glen Finney, and Dr. Kenneth Heilman. Topics include: Neurobehavioral testing for mental status; Behavioral neurology of vascular neurology; Alzheimer's disease; Frontotemporal dementia; Traumatic brain injury; Parkinsonian Syndromes (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Lewy body dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal disease, multisystem atrophy); Behavioral neurology of multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalopathies; Infectious Diseases (Neuro-AIDS, Neurosyphilis, HSV); Neurobehavioral aspects of systemic disease; Neurobehavioral aspects of epilepsy; Behavioral neurology aspects of nutritional deficiencies; Neurobehavioral aspects of mitochondrial disease; and Medicinal-induced behavioral disorders.

Many parts of the athlete's body are important for performance, such as strong muscles and bones; healthy lungs and heart; and several sensory systems, including the vision, touch, and joint position senses, and the vestibular system for balance. However, the critical element for athletic performance is, "not what you have but how you use it." The organ that decides "how you use it" is the brain. This book explains how the brain allows the athlete to perform. The book starts with an outline of brain anatomy, which is necessary to understand how the brain functions. The book then outlines many critical aspects of the athlete's brain, including learning motor skills; decision-making; hand preference; visual perception of speed, distance, and direction; balance; emotions and mood. Finally, the book discusses the adverse influence of brain injuries.

Most of what has been learned about how the brain mediates behaviour comes from experiments of nature where a stroke or other damage to the brain produces changes in a person's behaviour. In Matter of Mind, one of the leading figures in behavioural and cognitive neurology uses patient vignettes and other examples from his rich professional life to show just how much knowledge about brain functions such as reading, writing, language, control of emotions, skilled movement, perception, attention, and motiviation has been gained from the study of patients with diseases of or damage to the brain. No knowledge of neurology or neuroscience is required to understand the book, which is intended for neurological patients and their families. It will also be of interest to professionals who study the brain or treat patients with brain damage including neuropsychologists, neurologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, and their students and trainees.

A world-renowned clinician, teacher, and researcher in cognitive and behavioral neurology, Dr. Ken Heilman has found that stories of his own initiation into the world of doctoring are one of the best ways to engage students and trainees about the common professional, medical, and ethical challenges they will face in daily practice. The twenty-five stories gathered here span the author's first year of clinical training at Bellevue Hospital during the 1960s following his graduation from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. That year- known in the past as internship or first-year residency and now called post graduate year one- is recognized as one of the most intellectually, emotionally, and physically demanding in a physician's life. For the author, it was to hold the most valuable lessons on caring for patients and to exert the greatest lasting influence on how he practices medicine. Each story in this book conveys a core lesson about the practice of medicine and also tells a wonderful tale- about how the author contracted tuberculosis because of a colleague's carelessness, a tough nurse who was a great teacher, a cardiologist who missed a diagnosis because of his arrogance, an acid-dropping ascetic who turned tricks on the side, a fellow trainee caught in a lie, and, as timeless a story as there ever was, the utter impossibility of finding a parking spot in New York City, among others.

This book describes the changes in the brain and in cognitive functions that occur with aging in the absence of a neurological, psychiatric, or medical disease. It discusses aging-related changes in many brain functions, including memory, language, sensory perception, motor function, creativity, attention, executive functions, emotions and mood. The neural mechanisms that may account for specific aging-related changes in cognition, perception and behavior are explored, as well as the means by which aging-related cognitive decrements can be managed and possibly ameliorated. Consequently, this book will be of value to clinicians, including neurologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, primary care physicians, psychologists and speech-language pathologists. In addition, researchers and graduate students who want to learn about the aging brain will find this an indispensable guide.

This book was written by Kenneth M. Heilman, a neurologist with a long and productive clinical and academic career, including being a researcher and teacher.  Based on his experiences and achievements, as well as his frustrations and failures, he examines the challenges of healthcare, including what problems exist and how these problems may be improved.  Each chapter in this book focuses on integral areas of medicine, including research, creativity, career development, patient-physician relationship, wellness, medications, social considerations such as race, and medicine's future.   Changes in Medicine offers a unique view to the rapidly evolving field of neurology and practicing medicine.