Sound Medicine for January 26, 2002

Sound Medicine -- January 26, 2002

Barbara Lewis and Dr. Ora Pescovitz talk to researchers about:: Advancements in brain research; Panic disorders and the GABA amino acid

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Advancements in brain research

If you are one of the millions of movie-goers who have seen "A Beautiful Mind" about John Nash, a Nobel prize winner who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, you're likely intrigued by developments in the brain that cause mental illness.

Barbara Lewis interviews Dr. Richard Restak, creator of the PBS-TV series "The Secret Life of the Brain," to discuss information uncovered about brain development in the past ten years. Restak and Lewis discuss schizophrenia, its early signs, causes and treatments. Restak also talks about the adolescent brain, including its development and vulnerabilities.

Dr. Restak is a nationally recognized expert in brain development. He is a practicing neurologist and neuropsychiatrist and author of 15 books on the brain.

Resources

Dr. Richard Restak's five part PBS-TV series, "The Secret Life of the Brain" is began airing January 22. Indianapolis viewers can check the schedule at WFYI TV 20. Other listeners can check local affiliate listings or visit PBS for more information. Titles include:

Program 1: The Baby's Brain:Wider than the Sky
Program 2: The Child's Brain: Syllable from Sound
Program 3: The Teenage Brain: A World of Their Own
Program 4: The Adult Brain: To Think by Feeling
Program 5: The Aging Brain: Through Many Lives

Read more in the companion book to the series, The Secret Life of the Brain, by Richard Restak, M.D.

Also, read the true account of John Nash in the book A Beautiful Mind: A Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., by Sylvia Nasar. (1998, New York: Simon and Schuster, ISBN:0684853701). An excerpt is available at this UC Berkeley professor's Web site.

Panic disorders and the GABA amino acid

Serotonin and Dopamine are the two well-known brain chemicals, associated with depression and other mental disorders. But GABA -- short for "gamma aminobutyric acid" -- is an amino acid that, according to recent studies, seems to play a key role in panic disorders.

Joining Dr. Ora Pescovitz and Barbara Lewis to discuss his research on the topic is Dr. Andrew Goddard. Dr. Goddard is professor of psychiatry and professor of radiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He recently arrived at the IUSM from Yale University, where he was director of the Yale Anxiety Clinic.

Resources: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has an excellent education program for anxiety disorders with information for laymen and professionals.; The Center for Mental Health Services provides good links to other anxiety disorder Web sites.; Read Dr. Goddard's research paper on GABA and panic disorders at the June 2001 issue in Archives of General Psychiatry.

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