Quick note: Recent announcement that adds hope to the understanding and future treatment of autism and dyslexia: MIT’s McGovern Institute researchers awarded $8.5m to study brain basis of autism and dyslexia. Quote:

- “Two researchers at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research will head an ambitious new project to study the origins of autism and dyslexia, supported by a $8.5m grant from the Ellison Medical Foundation. The project leaders, Nancy Kanwisher and John Gabrieli, are prominent experts in neuroimaging and human brain development.”

Link: McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT

If you are in the Bay Area, we hope to see you at this event! Feel free to forward the invitation below to anyone you know who may be interested.

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The growing movement for improving brain health has brought many interested professionals and interested community members to the table. Sharing our information, activities, and planned events to promote brain health increases the power of our reach.   

Please join us on May 16, 2007 from noon to 1:30pm for a complimentary gathering co-sponsored by:

• The American Society on Aging (Nancy Ceridwyn will make some remarks),
• The Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI) at San Francisco State University and University of California at Berkeley, and
• SharpBrains.

Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, well-known neuroscientist and author of The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older and Alvaro Fernandez, CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains and instructor of the Exercising Our Brains class, will provide an overview of the science and trends behind the emerging brain fitness field.

Please bring information on your work and events to share with others interested in brain health.

Where: SFSU OLLI (835 Market Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, Room 675)
When: Wednesday, May 16, 12-1:30 pm
What: A chance for networking with Read the rest of this entry »

We read a good article on medical salaries recently, and are happy to see an increased emphasis prevention and wellness rather than on sickness.

Along these lines, we were fortunate to attend Healthetc yesterday, a day-long health event in San Francisco co-organized by KCBS and CPMC that had Bill Clinton as keynote speaker. You can read an article on his great intervention here.

Some of the speech highlights:

1) Clinton’s great overview of key data:

• 16 vs 10-11: % GDP spent on health care in the US vs. other industrialized countries. This percentage difference equals around $800 billion annually
• 84 vs 100: % population with some form of health insurance in the US vs. other countries
• 34 and 37: ranking of the US system as measured by health outcomes and life expectancy, respectively
• 34 vs 19: % health care costs spent on administration in the US vs. other countries

2) He outlined the 3 main problems with US Healthcare as follows-and empathized that any serious, long-term solution needs to Read the rest of this entry »