Media Production

By: Tanner Logsdon

May 8, 2017

A Finnish study from ELSEVIER sponsored by Orium, is reporting a possible breakthrough in the field of Alzheimer’s treatment. The new drug called, ORM-12741 is a treatment drug not meant to cure the disease but rather halt the process and give the patients dealing with moderate Alzheimer’s relief and more time.

Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects cognitive memory and brain functions. The disease slowly deteriorates the brain and can eventually lead to death after the seventh stage. With this being said there is little that medicine or other treatments can do and the disease does not have a cure. ORM for short, is a drug developed to slow the process by targeting alpha-2C adrenoceptors in the brain, which are responsible for initiating the “fight or flight” response in our nervous system in reactions to tress related environments. This drug is the first of its kind to target specific receptors in the brain such as alpha-2C’s and is already showing process in its trial runs.

During the study there were 2 main targets, safety and results, both of which showed promise. The test involved a total of 100 people who had a mild-moderate case of Alzheimer’s. Out of those 100 patients 50 received a placebo drug acting as a dummy drug and their results showed a 33 percent decrease in cognitive memory, while the other 50 patients were given either a low-dose (30 to 60 milligrams) twice daily supply of ORM-12741 or a high-dose (100 to 200 milligrams) version of the ORM showed a 4 percent increase in scores. Scores were measured through a series of memory test administered online.

Still in the preliminary stages the drug seemed to show positive effects on cognitive memory. As for safety there was only 1 reported case of liver problems. All of the baseline monitors seemed to stay regular offering a very promising safety record. While showing promising effects their are many things to take into consideration. For one, these drugs were put on top of other drugs already treating the patients. While placed on top of other drugs seeing that we have seen promising increases in memory this means the drugs are working in cohesion with their medication to further prevent symptoms.

Although the drug is still in the preliminary stage and still has a lot of trails to go through before it can be a set medicine in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, it has already shown that it is a factor to be reckoned with. As stated by Rouru, the head researcher in this study, “I am afraid that wonder drugs hardly exist,” he noted. “In the present study, our drug was used on top of existing Alzheimer’s medications. In that setting it showed clear effect, which suggests that it is giving additional clinically significant benefit for patients that are already using Alzheimer’s

http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20130311/experimental-alzheimers-drug-shows-promise-study-finds#1

After writing my own summary of the research article I can see how hard it is to actually be a journalist. I now see the struggles that they have to go through to deliver a high quality piece of work that can be published and seen as an actual journal article instead of someone posting something online. I had difficulties putting my thoughts onto the paper in a way that the journalist did that really delivers the view of the researcher. I knew what I wanted to say about the research, but what I wanted to say didn’t really summarize the article or point out the key points that make the article. I also saw how difficult it really was to include every piece of information while having to shorten and summarize my article to a piece less than 2 pages. As far as the amount of stuff I could include into the article it wasn’t a matter of what to include or not to include it was how to do it and where to place it. I found myself leaving out some of the smaller details that referred to the study and mainly focusing on the main aspects that the study was going for such as the safety and the overall results. After this project and my multiple blog post I have a new fond respect for journalist. The amount of research they have to do into these studies and the amount of details they have to scrounge through to produce a perfect article is outstanding. I would compare my work to a little below what the original journal post was because my experience is not near what theirs was. I struggled with organization and going into detail in the short amount of space given. Overall I feel I covered what I needed to cover, but I feel as though I would’ve been able to do a lot better with more time and an extended work availability and word count.

Mental Health

Schizophrenia is more or less fantasized in the media in my opinion. After watching the video and comparing it with what I have seen in movies that portray what the symptoms are like, I see a big difference in the advancement of symptoms. The movies make every case seem to be the worse case scenario and does not allow the lesser cases much exposure. The media has a bad case of dramatizing the effects and portrays the disease in its worse sense to get more attention. The YouTube video seemed to make the effects more personal and put you in an everyday situation. This allowed you to sympathize with the individual and allowed me to completely understand the effects of the disease. I feel as though the YouTube video was more effective than the media and movies at portraying the actual effects of the disease.

Stress

After watching Kelly McGonigal’s TED Talk over stress, I was motivated in my own life. Kelly came prepared to the talk with a ton of evidence and hours upon hours of research to present to the audience. She seems very credible in the fluidity of the presentation and the factual statements backed up by numbers and research from her team. In her talk she discussed how the human being could eliminate stress by adjusting to it, not only physically but emotionally as well. If we could eliminate the factor of stress and treat it as a positive factor rather than a negative factor we can turn the negative side effects of stress into positive ones. The numbers that Kelly brought to show just how real of a factor stress is were incredible and completely changed my mind on what stress is and just how much of an impact it has on every day life.

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Motivation

We can use motivation to push through the tough times by giving ourselves the building blocks of a foundation to rest upon. If we go without motivation or without anything to work towards our determination to work toward our previous goals are lost. By using motivation we constantly have something to strive for making the work seem more worth it in the long run.

In terms of what drove me to Austin College, I would definitely have to say most of the reasons fell into the acquired needs category. For me a big part of my motivation require extrinsic motivation (Football rings, a promise of a masters degree in education, and a step forward in the job process when concerning first look schools). The schools main hook line and sinker for me was the promise of half of my fees paid for every year in relations to a scholarship. This made the money hungry side of me come out and take the offer right away being it was the best money payment system combined with education I was offered. Another reason I decided on Austin College involved that of the Self Determination Theory. This theory involves my willingness to be in control of my life and have the internal strength to believe I could succeed in anything I wanted to do. With this theory in mind the school offered a chance at a 4 and a half year masters program to those who were considering the education field. When I was presented with the opportunity of a masters degree, my internal drive never thought for a split second I would not be able to achieve this. In fact my mind went into a stage of thinking this was a way to prove anyone who had ever doubted me, wrong. I knew in my head I was capable of achieving what I set my mind to.

Dear future self,

Keep on the path that you chose to follow involving the self determination model. All the extrinsic awards you sought out to begin with may seem nice now, but having the ability to put your mind to something and stick to it will be very valuable in the coming years.

When you find yourself falling off I need you to remember the reason you chose Austin College, the opportunity it provided for you. This is your chance to earn the diploma that will enable you to pursue your dreams and letting the pressure of college get to you is not a valuable excuse. When you find yourself in trouble, refer back to this paper and remember your self determination reasons for attending here in the first place.

Spotlight Blog “Memory”

Study tips are basically review tips for how to study efficiently and effectively. These vary from person to person but overall the tips involve many different strategies that involve the same tactics with a little adjustment for each age category.

When discussing middle school students, greatschools.org discusses many ideas of physical discipline to help the student physically stay involved in studying with the help of parents. Some of the ideas discussed involve,

Helping your child get organized
Provide a place to study for your child
Communicate with your child’s teachers
Use of a planner

Most of this tips from the website involve personal help from the teacher and outside sources not involving the kids. Although this is a great situation for middle school students, this in fact does not so much involve the student but more the ones helping the students in this situation. The advice on using a planner and delegating a specific study space allow for the student to prioritize school work and make for a solid foundation of study tactics. Although these tips are good for middle school students, I feel as though not involving the student and not making the student the main subject of responsibility is a problem and might help the student in the situation, but will not help the situation in the long run after it is removed from the present.

In terms of high school study tips we see an advancement in terms and ways of studying on academictips.org. These tips focus on the mind of a young adult and specifically state that it is how “you” study, making this more personalized for the student. I agree on many of the topics at hand concerning things such as, determining your concentration span, maximizing recall, and improving your memory, which are all topics of discussing in the article. Determining your concentration span, picks on making sure your brain is actually focused and you are involved in what you’re learning otherwise this information will never making it into long term storage regardless of how hard we try. maximizing recall, deals with how we should space out our learning and not crunch everything into one big study session.This being seen as the space learning process, makes it easier for our minds to process information and encode the information into long term storage. Lastly the article reviews improving our memory, which involves working our mind like a jigsaw puzzles and putting together the information how only we can understand. This can be seen as another way of connecting our research or readings of study material to more relative things in our everyday life, such as anagrams or relating a word or phrase you already know to the new material. I see this source in particular very well rounded and credible due to my previous knowledge of what I have learned through personal experience and exposure in our current psych class.

As for study tips for adults and parents we get into the more helping your student or child succeed role. These study tips aren’t directly pushed towards the parents tidying habits but are coded for them helping their kids succeed. childdevelopmentinfo.com does a great job of offering some basic tips for the parents of these children to make sure they are getting the studying habits they need to be successful these in turn are contributed to,

Turn off the TV set.
Designate specific areas for homework and studying.
Regularity is a key factor in academic success.
Organize study and homework projects.

and many more. These basic ideas are very credible in relationship to our knowledge of studying and memorization based on the ideas that these are all prioritizing study and making routines. The goals in these tips are to turn your child’s focus towards the task at hand and make sure the homework and studying is the number one thing on their mind. Again these tips are directed toward what the parent can do to help with the homework situation whether that is organizing the environment or helping the student learn and practice study tips for the future. This guide is a great base for parents who have high school or middle school aged kids and I feel like is a great source based on the key factor that all of these have been proven in our recent readings. This site was credidited by other sources and has many resources that go beyond these basics as well.

For what I consider the most challenging situation to study for, college students, we turn to collegetips.com. This website offers some great insight on some advanced tactics that work well in the college situations for studying.

Create Mnemonics
Make Flash Cards
Remember to Take Breaks
Get lots of sleep
Avoid Studying on Coffee, Ritalin and Adderall

All of these specific situations are more prescribed towards the college students frame of mind. Obviously a middle school student would not be thinking of addrerall or pulling all nighters frequently worrying about how much sleep they are getting. These tips I have found to be very useful and easily backed up by the information we have previously received as far as mnemonics being able to help your brain in the encoding process, making flash cards for the same reason, and getting sleep to allow your brain to process this information. As far as the drug use goes prescription or not prescription it is always best to stay away from these if you are able to like the article says. No one knows how they will react and it could affect your habits and overall performance. The most important of these tips for college students especially is the use of sleep. With many college students opting to substitute an hour of sleep for more studying time we see these results constantly fail so its good that this site reminds the students of this exposure. ne thing I do not agree with on this site is the advice to study during the week. Although many students do have lives on the weekend I believe that studying throughout the week as you wish is the best way of retaining information and not putting any effort in on the weekends could greatly affect you. Overall I found this article to credit many of the things we have discussed in class and has given me great insight on my own study tactics.

http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/study-skills-for-middle-school-and-beyond/
http://academictips.org/study-skills/improving-your-learning-ability/
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/tips-for-helping-kids-and-teens-with-homework-and-study-habits/#.WOHMyIWcH4g
http://www.collegetips.com/college-classes/study-tips.php

Personality

After participating in these four test I feel as though my personality actually fits me perfectly. These test all labeled me as caring and very feelings motivated person. They also labeled me as a very outgoing person who isn’t afraid to put myself in new situations. Being an outgoing person has always been my way of presenting myself.

Each test asked virtually the same questions and with me giving the same feedback for each of the questions I feel as though the results should’ve been the same. The test all offered a variety of questions to fill every spot of uncertainty. By going in depth and asking the same questions in multiple ways.

For the credibility of each test, I believe these to be for the most part accurate. Seeing as though all four have given me the same results, I can’t discredit any of the four test. Knowing my mind and knowing what I believe to be true about myself, I feel the test described me perfectly and were very accurate. I believe that all of these test, based on my personal feelings, are accurate and a very good baseline for discovering your own personality based on questions alone. Although they might not be the most accurate ways because there is always a question of how accurately we place ourselves in this situations but, they do provide for a quick relatively close answer.

Mozart’s effect on intelligence?

After reading the research behind Rauscher’s thoughts, on Mozart having a positive effect on humans abilities to perform better on spatial tasks, I can not say that I am heavily affected in my own thoughts. I personally do not think that his evidence or his test showed outstanding numbers that would be enough to influence me into thinking that Miller’s proposal of spending $105,000 for new mothers to have their children listen to Mozart is in fact worth it. Yes the research did show promise and did in fact prove that the subjects did better when having listened to Mozart, but the test was a.so not conducted on babies… This study was conducted on students at a collegiate university who obviously are of the higher education standards seeing that they are enrolled in a college. Therefor to be able to say that his research would stand up to what Miller believes could help infants is a hard statement to stand by. Without any test involving a development system or long term exposure to people of a younger generation with the ability to grow up listening to Mozart I feel as though no assumptions can be made that Mozart would in fact change the lives of these infants.

Violent Video Games

I feel as though violent video games do not have as big of an impact as the media and critics of these games have made them out to have. I myself have been playing violent video games for plenty of years (Well before the intended rating of M and 18+ applied to me) and consider myself a pacifist that would not and can not see myself even thinking about violence. Therefore I see these games as a release of character. These games are not meant to make you violent but in context could bring out the true you if you allow them. This being said I have seen first hand, violent video games been turned into charity acts and competitions pitting some of the best gaming athletes on this planet against each other, while at the same time bringing people and nations together to fight for the same cause. Many people see these games as only killing and guns, or money and reputation, when in reality “its just a game”. These so called violent games have gained me many friendships over the years with great people and have actually brought fun and excitement to millions of people world wide.

As for a so called ban on these games, I feel as though it would be a very stupid decision. This world has always been about expressing yourself especially in the U.S.A and taking these games away would deprive us of entertainment and freedom. If we really think that video games cause killers and violence we need to look inside the individual not the game.

The Real Reason For Brains

First and foremost the reason I was drawn to this topic is because its not one that I’ve heard done in depth before. Everyone of course knows the basic reason for brains is thinking and thought processes but I figured maybe this man could provide a more detailed description or maybe even put me on to a new method of thinking for this topic.

To summarize the talk Wolpert states that our brains were made to do one thing and that is to produce movement. He argues throughout his presentation that their are other things that involve our brain such as love and memories and stuff of that nature but by using examples such as the Sea Squirts, he shows us that the thoughts are really irrelevant and that the only thing our brain does of importance is allowing us to think of how we need to move to further ourselves in evolution.

I feel as though Wolpert is a very reliable source because of his background in the subject. He states that he is a Neuroscientist and an engineer and I find these two subjects to be two of the hardest to master so if he was able to perform well in these two areas he must know what he is doing. Also he was very well informed on the subject at hand and knew everything about his power point before presenting.

To test this theory I can only find 1 way in my brain and for me to do this would be a little unethical but I feel like would result in the best results. In the power point he talks about movement being the only thing we need our brain to produce to survive. I would like to take a control group of everyday people who are married with kids as a sense of passion and love and another group who was completely isolated from emotion much like that of the caveman style of living with 2 goals in life and those are to survive and repopulate. I would then study these 2 groups from beginning to end of their lives and compare how well they stack up to each other in terms of what we call a good life and their overall status of “life” or how healthy they are.