CerebrumIQ Reviews Spark Deeper Questions About What Intelligence Really Means

First, the brain has constraints on how much information can be processed simultaneously, and when the Body-Mind is on full alert (e.g. flight, fright or fight) the functioning of the lower (reptilian) brain and mid (mammalian) brain take precedence. This means that as the amount of “stress” in the moment increases so more of our thinking is suppressed. This happens probably because, in evolutionary terms, it was more important when being chased by the dinosaur to operate on “automatic response” mode, than to spend time thinking about it. Of course, today, the stress generated by a situation is not indicative of an immediate threat to life and limb and it is better often to think a solution (using alpha and theta states) than to fire-fight it. We can, in fact, learn to stay calm in volatile or distressing circumstances in which case we retain full ability to use the complete range of logical or intuitive power. When we “have a go” at something new, we step to the edge of our existing frame of reference and we take risks (for example of looking foolish) and we may “fail”.

A review of the published scientific literature that aims to find as much as possible of the research relevant to a particular research question and based on appraisal of the research summarises the main findings (qualitative or quantitative). Small for gestational age is a term used to describe babies that are smaller than usual for the number of weeks of pregnancy. A study in which a number of similar people are randomly assigned to 2 (or more) groups to test a specific drug, treatment or other intervention. A prospective study asks a specific study question (usually about how a particular exposure affects an outcome), recruits appropriate participants, and looks at the exposures and outcomes of interest in these people over the following months or years.

Table. Key conclusions for the individual AEDs for each of the risk areas reviewed

It is divided into two cerebral hemispheres joined together by a band of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum. The cerebrum is involved in ‘higher-brain functions’, such as processing language, vision, thinking and emotions. Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks’ gestational age, as opposed to the usual about 40 weeks.

The studies contain limited numbers of exposed pregnancies and for the studies that suggest an increased risk it is considered that the results may be affected by confounding. Clinical studies examining the effect of polytherapy are more limited and are restricted to data from the UK Epilepsy and Pregnancy Registry and the Australian Pregnancy Registry, involving more than 300 exposed pregnancies. Non-clinical studies in the published scientific literature in rodents showed neurodegenerative changes in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of fetuses exposed to gabapentin during early and mid-pregnancy (Prakash et al 2008 and Badawy et al 2019). However, limitations in the design of these studies make them insufficient to determine the effects of gabapentin on the developing nervous system. An unpublished Good Laboratory Practice compliant study in pregnant rats showed non-dose-related behavioural changes in the performance of the offspring during tests of activity and emotionality but the changes were not statistically significantly different from those of the control animals. Overall, the non-clinical data does not provide clear evidence that exposure to gabapentin during pregnancy adversely affects the development of the central nervous system.

• Some people identified as having a sensory processing disorder may have CVI, others may have autism (see Autism, above), or causes that are not known.
• These clinical studies, involving around 1800 pregnancies exposed to phenobarbital (including 600 pregnancies exposed in the first trimester), show an increased risk of major congenital malformations following phenobarbital exposure compared with either unexposed women without epilepsy or unexposed women with epilepsy.
• In the first phase the ‘tonic’ phase the person will lose consciousness and won’t be aware of what is happening, their muscles will go stiff and so they may fall (if standing) and also bite their tongue.
• Most of our brain is made up of the cerebrum, which is found at the top of the brain.

The available clinical data on the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders with levetiracetam is extremely limited and involves data on around cerebrumiq 100 children (Shallcross et al 2011, Bech et al 2018, Huber-Mollema et al 2019 and 2020). Levetiracetam was also included in the meta-analysis by Veroniki et al (2017b). The available data do not suggest an increased risk of cognitive developmental delay, psychomotor developmental delay and autism/dyspraxia. However, as the numbers of exposures remains limited this cannot be concluded definitively and so it is important that any emerging data is kept under close review.

Non-clinical studies

It is a waste of effort “exercising” the brain until we have quietened and focussed our minds, and setting aside time for mental imagery and imagination will give our little grey cells a good workout. “It’s been an essential idea in modern neural imaging that different regions of the brain are in charge of different functions,” senior author Xiao Liu said in the news release. “For example, we know what part of the brain is in charge of processing visual information, or that some regions of the brain are more in charge of those higher-order cognitive functions. That represents the traditional neural imaging studies, which try to map brain function.” Around 2009, I began to speculate that optimizing the inter-hemispheric connectivity of white matter between all four brain hemispheres and the intra-hemispheric connectivity of microzones within each hemisphere might be just as important as optimizing gray matter volume in a particular brain region. But a decade ago, this hypothesis was just an educated guess with little supporting evidence-based research. Thankfully, today we have new research that provides fresh fMRI-based evidence that helps to explain why functional connectivity may be just as important as “location, location, location.”

The conclusions of this assessment are based on an evaluation of the available non-clinical and clinical data. The assessment takes into account the methodology, including the quality of data, how it was collected, the existence of a non-exposed group or control group, the type of controls, and if possible, the inclusion of foetuses aborted due to malformation, and so on. To allow a proper evaluation of the reliability of the data, the available studies must be of adequate scientific quality. This public assessment report summarises the main evidence and key findings for the antiepileptic drugs considered in this review. It also presents the conclusions of the Commission on Human Medicines and its Neurology, Pain and Psychiatry Expert Advisory Group (NPPEAG). The epilepsy medicine, valproate or valproic acid (▼; brand names Epilim, Depakote, Convulex, Episenta, Epival, Kentlim, Syonell, Orlept, Valpal) can seriously harm an unborn baby if taken by the mother during pregnancy.

• Pre-conception counselling is an appointment, or series of appointments, with a doctor or nurse who knows about pregnancy and epilepsy.
• NICE guidance recommends that it can be used as adjunctive treatment in focal seizures.
• Dopamine cannot be given directly to patients since it cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier).
• We thus go on to live out our lives without much knowledge of how we learn, how our mind or memory operates and therefore with little idea about how to keep the brain holistically active and healthy.

Two individual studies in national birth registers (Almgren et al 2009, Margulis et al 2019) were not included in the meta-analysis and have suggested reduced fetal head circumference following carbamazepine exposure. It is of note that the head circumferences observed in the studies by Almgren et al and Margulis et al likely remain within the normal range and therefore suggest only a very small effect of carbamazepine. The meta-analysis by Veroniki et al, which did not include the studies by Almgren et al and Margulis et al, did not support an increased risk of prenatal growth retardation (OR 1.15, 95% Crl 0.77 to 1.67) based on data from 2,897 carbamazepine monotherapy exposed pregnancies. The first step in developing and testing a new drug is non-clinical research and assessing the safety and efficacy in both in vitro models (such as cell cultures) and several animal species, including pregnant animals, prior to First in Humans. Once safety and efficacy profiles are established in these models the drug can then enter a clinical development programme. During its clinical development a drug is then tested on a range of people in clinical trials in order to generate information on safety and efficacy.