I Can't Tell... Are These Kids SAD or SURPRISED by the Sudden Appearance of Death to Ruin Their Picnic?

Now here’s one I’ve never heard of.  Parkinson’s disease makes it harder for us Parkies to correctly read the emotions on another person’s face.  Odd.

Scientists are beginning to find out why people with Parkinson’s disease often feel socially awkward. Parkinson’s patients find it harder to recognize expressions of emotion in other people’s faces and voices, report two studies published by the American Psychological Association.

One of the studies raises questions about how deep brain stimulation, the best available treatment for patients who no longer respond to medication, more strongly affects the recognition of fear and sadness.

Seems that a subset of us who have had the brain-piercing tend to mistake the expression of “fear” and “sadness” for something else — like “surprise.”

I guess that’s why Gail always looks so “surprised”.

Patients in the surgical group were implanted with stimulators, electrical devices that prod the brain’s subthalamic nucleus, a small, lens-shaped structure, to normalize the nerve signals that control movement. This nucleus is part of the basal ganglia system, which is thought to integrate movement, cognition and emotion.

Three months after treatment, only the patients with stimulators not the drug-treated patients or the healthy controls were significantly worse at recognizing fear and sadness. Patients with stimulators confused those expressions with others, such as surprise, or even no emotion. Medicated patients and healthy controls were either accurate about fear and sadness or occasionally mistook them for other negative emotions, such as disgust.

“Having Parkinson’s predisposes an individual to errors in emotion recognition,” said Gray. “The research in France, along with previous studies, indicates that deep-brain stimulation produces an even more severe deficit.”

Why would treating a movement disorder affect the perception of emotions? Implants affect a part of the brain that reaches across functions, so the authors suggested that the same electrical stimulation that calms over-excited motor activity may also somehow inhibit emotional processing.

Probably a good idea to keep me away from funerals and such… I might mistake all the sadness for a “surprise party” and ask when the stripper is gonna pop out of the casket.

NOW — TAKE THE POLL!

Related articles by Zemanta

• FDA: Medtronic Brain Stimulator Missed Study Goal (abcnews.go.com)
• FDA: Medtronic brain stimulator missed study goal (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Melanoma Risk Higher in Parkinson’s Patients (nlm.nih.gov)
• Longtime Smokers May Find Protection from Parkinson’s (nlm.nih.gov)

The publisher recommends having a You Tube video to promote your book.  So here’s mine to promote “Deep Brain Diary.”

Now: TAKE THE POLL!!!

When you can remember tuff guy NFL players in their heyday, then you hear that they’ve died at a reasonably respectable age… it makes you feel old.

I remember Merlin Olsen before the flower commercials, before the “Father Murphy” TV gigs.  I remember him as a tuff guy on the defensive line of the LA Rams.  As a kid I was always amazed to hear him speak, cuz it just seemed so incongruous that such a badass on the football field could be so soft spoken and gentle off the field.

RIP Merlin.  And you’re taking yet another piece of my languishing youth with you.

New novel by Bill Schmalfeldt tells the story of two special brothers.

Mud and Jake Klemper were special boys. Their father knew how special they were although his constant browbeating did little to encourage their special gift. But he did instill them with one thing — “The Klemper Pride.” The boys would have lived their lives unknown and uncared about in Slope Oak, Iowa, if not for a little song Mud and Jake composed one hot afternoon. It became a monster hit. As a result of their success, the boys became international superstars. Through it all, they never really seemed to understand what was going on around them and they maintained their simple outlook on life — until it all became too much!

The author dedicates this book to the memory of his older brother, Jack, who inspired him to write it.  Jack knew which parts of this story are true, and which are not.  Will you be able to tell?

Paperback: 193 pages, $20

Download: $5

“Deep Brain Diary: My Life as a Guy with Parkinson’s Disease and Brain Surgery Volunteer” tells the personal story of author Bill Schmalfeldt and his dance with Parkinson’s disease.

It was nearly four weeks after his 45th birthday when Bill Schmalfeldt was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In addition to having to get used to having what he always though of as a old man’s disease, Bill had to adjust to the idea that his condition would only deteriorate. After seven years, Bill learned about an experimental clinical trial of deep brain stimulation for patients in the less-advanced stages of Parkinson’s. He was one of 30 people to sign up for this Phase I trial testing the safety and tolerability of the procedure. In this group, 15 patients were randomized to the surgical group while 15 were asked to just continue taking their medicine as before so they could be compared to the surgical group in the months and years to come.

Bill takes you into the operating room with him, remaining awake as twin probes are carefully advanced deep into the subthalamic nuclei of his brain.  He also shares his life before the surgery and his life afterwards — including the mixed results he is currently experiencing.

The author’s proceeds from the sale of this book and/or download will be donated to the National Parkinson Foundation to assist in their marvelous work towards finding a cure and new and better treatments for PD.

Hardcover: 249 pages, $35

Download: $5

A Political Satire by Bill Schmalfeldt (2004)

Synopsis: With the Vice President’s recent death and President DeWitt’s health worsening by the day, the precarious balance of power between the Democratic President and a Republican-controlled Congress has moved to the right. Albert Wantner, the politically shrewd Speaker of the House, will ascend to the Presidency if the ill and elderly President dies before a new “veep” is appointed. For this reason, Wantner plans to delay Congressional approval of any candidate, and the President realizes that he must choose a person so politically pure that the public will clamor for his confirmation and punish Wantner for any delay.

Paperback:  308 pages (from $13.50 on Amazon)

Contact Me for More Info!

I’m looking for book reviewers.  If you have semi-decent writing skills (and could write a good book report in school), I’d be happy to e-mail you a review copy of either of my new books, “Deep Brain Diary” or “Hunky Dunk.”

If you prefer a light hearted comedy (and don’t have a problem with the occasional dirty word or two), I would recommend “Hunky Dunk.”

If you’re a big-time fan of this blog and would like to read the story from start to finish (with the occasional dirty word or two), I would recommend “Deep Brain Diary.”

All I ask is that, in return for your free copy (sent via e-mail) that you write a 4-5 paragraph review of whichever book you read.  You’ll need to sign up for a free account at Lulu.com to post your review, and when the books are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and elsewhere, I’ll ask to use your reviews there, too.  (Unless you think it stinks, in which case I’ll thank you for your time.)

So, use the “Drop Me a Line” form at the top of the page, shoot me your name, e-mail, and which book you’d like to review and I’ll have it in your inbox pronto.

And thanks!

Now — TAKE THE POLL!

This self-publishing thing is freakin’ GREAT!

Now I’ve published a paperback that you can buy TODAY for $20.

“Hunky Dunk” is a book I wrote back in 1998.  It was inspired by sitting around with my brother Jack talking about old family stories.  The book is dedicated to his memory, and I plan to live up to my promise to him at the time to give him half the proceeds of the book… so out of every buck I make off of this book, 50 cents will go to my sister-in-law, Kerri.

What the hell, if you like funny stories, check out the preview.

Back Cover

Mud and Jake Klemper were special boys. Their father knew how special they were although his constant browbeating did little to encourage their special gift. But he did instill them with one thing — “The Klemper Pride.” The boys would have lived their lives unknown and uncared about in Slope Oak, Iowa, if not for a little song Mud and Jake composed one hot afternoon. It became a monster hit. As a result of their success, the boys became international superstars. Through it all, they never really seemed to understand what was going on around them and they maintained their simple outlook on life — until it all became too much!

At any rate, two books in one week?  Beat THAT, Stephen King! 

Now, Take the NEW Poll!

This morning is one of those mornings when I ask myself a series of questions.

1.  Why am I more tired now than I was when I went to bed?

2.  Why do I feel so hungover when I haven’t been drunk in years, and haven’t had a sip of alcohol in days?

3.  Why do my arms hurt?

4.  Why are my eyes burning?

5.  Why does it feel like I’m thinking through a thick layer of hospital grade cotton?

I know why my chest muscles hurt… it’s from the constant coughing and throat clearing.  No mystery there.

Maybe I’ll feel better once I get some coffee in me.

Yeah.  Coffee.  That’s the ticket.

ADDENDUM: It’s 7am.  I just took the dogs out.  When I was bringing Raven back in, I bent over to get the chair off her neck.  I bent over a little too far and bashed the top of my head, right near one of my surgically acquired “scalp bumps”, right on the corner of the door jamb.  Yeeeeee……….

I don’t know why I keep suggesting that you take the poll since no one has touched it in days, but here you go…

Hey, maybe it’s OK that some of us Parkies don’t get out and about that much.  A new study says we’re more susceptible to the skin cancer, melanoma!

Exams of more than 2,000 people with Parkinson’s disease found that about 1 percent currently had melanoma, Dr. John M. Bertoni of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and his colleagues found. Based on the findings, they say, people with the degenerative nerve disease should receive regular skin cancer screening.

A number of studies have found a higher risk for melanoma among people with Parkinson’s disease, which occurs when brain cells that produce dopamine — a signaling chemical with many important functions in the brain — die off. But it hasn’t been clear whether this increased risk is due to the drugs people take to treat Parkinson’s disease or to the disease itself.

I just thought you looked like you needed something to cheer you up today.  Carry on! 

NOW — TAKE THE POLL!!!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Melanoma Risk Higher in Parkinson’s Patients (nlm.nih.gov)