Stimulate Your Mind

How much time do we spend reflecting on our actions and thoughts? A few hours a day? A few hours a week? A few hours a month? A few hours a year? Never? If we are not making time to reflect then we to need to hit the pause button and reevaluate our state of mind and heart. We need to realign the wheels of our hearts to ensure that we are staying on the right track. In particular, how often is mercy a factor in our thoughts and actions? If the answer is not always, then we need to spend more time in self-reflection. Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. Lacking in self-reflection results in a lack of mercy. Unfortunately, many people, young and old, are missing this component from their daily routine. The loss of this reflection leads to a misguided state of mind and ultimately affects behavior. This state/behavior is typically seen in adolescents, specifically, bullies. We nor...

Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to work on a global health project. As with all international travel, the lessons and experiences were priceless. Towards the end of the trip I learned about “accepted” cultural practices that deeply saddened me. Namely, there was systemic abuse at essentially all levels in the region. These abuses were directed towards the vulnerable and weak. In most cases the victims were single or widowed women. One of the stories that was shared with me was that of a mother (widowed) who could not sustain her family financially. In order to cover expenses, she had to “pimp out” her daughter. Unfortunately, this had become common practice in that society. After hearing the stories and confirming with others, I did what I could to support the victims and to voice my opposition. But I had so many questions in my head. How can this exist in our modern world? Where were the human rights people? Where were the women’s rights people? Where we...

Prof. Nasser Kashou Interview at SBMT Conference. Professor Nasser Kashou discusses his brain research with functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) for rehabilitation and therapy in adults and neonates. In this quick interview I discuss the two presentations given at the Annual World Congress of Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics (SBMT). These talks were presenting the results of our published papers in the journal of Neurophotonics. The titles of the talks were (1)  Hand Grasping and Finger Tapping Induced Similar Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Cortical Responses; and (2)  Somatic stimulation causes fronto-parietal cortical changes in neonates: an fNIRS study. For more details on the methods, results and other studies please click on this link . The citation of these full manuscripts are listed below. Kashou , Dar, Hasenstab, Nahhas, Jadcherla. Somatic stimulation causes fronto-parietal cortical changes in neonates: an fNIRS stu...

As we approach the New Year we see a range of emotions and actions from people across the globe. Some are happy, some are sad, some will party, some will stay in. Unfortunately, both the happy and sad are being negatively affected by the societal expectations, the culture and traditions. These traditions are in essence influencing our psychology (mind and behavior) in one way or another. The most common posts or reminders we may be seeing during these days are motivational and some will begin to think or list their New Year’s resolutions. In this regard, I wrote a poem (see below) many years ago which I hope will be of benefit, encouragement and motivation to blossom for all who may read it. new year’s resolution... what is the new year except another day yet many disagree and say it's a time to start fresh, from scratch so i say, let's detach ourselves from our bad habits and do that which benefits a resolution, another solution with constant evolution...

Can we determine feeding ability of newborns by imaging their brain? In this publication our purpose was to investigate the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a tool for assessing how a baby would develop feeding capabilities. Feeding capability, or lack thereof, is an issue when babies are born before completing 37 weeks of pregnancy, also known as preterm. The reason why this is a problem is because at preterm the brain (cerebrum and cerebellum) is not fully developed. Meaning, for example, if the baby is born around 35 weeks, the brain, an organ which essentially controls our body and senses, still needs time to grow in size and function. Ideally, 39 weeks is best for a healthy pregnancy. Other organs needing time to fully develop are the lungs and liver. Thus, consequences of early birth include: breathing, hearing and vision problems as well as developmental delay and cerebral palsy. For the babies born preterm, they are immediately placed in infant incubators ...

Scientific publications are written for scientists which indirectly leave out anyone who does not have a scientific education. A good rule of thumb is, if we as scientists cannot explain our research in a simple way then we probably do not fully understand it ourselves. Additionally, part of being a good scientist is thinking about how a particular manuscript, research study, technology, application, etc. can be used beyond the aim of its original purpose. Both the aforementioned points are important; however, seem lacking in the scientific community. A few years ago I had a discussion with a friend, an intellectual individual, who was constantly reading books and had already published his own book. At that time he mentioned that although he reads a lot, he finds it hard to read, comprehend or keep engaged in scientific papers or publications. Paraphrasing, he thought that scientists lived in a bubble, writing only for each other and essentially ignoring the rest of the world. H...