The body's first defense against invading pathogens or tissue injury is the innate immune system. Since excessive immune responses can be damaging, anti-inflammatory mechanisms function to control the pro-inflammatory response and prevent injury. The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway is a neural mechanism that suppresses the innate inflammatory response. Knowledge concerning innervation of the immune system offers a unique opportunity to explore previously unrecognized or under recognized techniques to treat disease. It also enables consideration of the neurological basis of complementary and alternative medical therapies, such as meditation and acupuncture. This evolving area of research has implications for the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions of excessive cytokine release.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep 28 Oke SL, Tracey KJ. Director's Office, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York, United States.

Jerry Valley has appeared all over the world as one of the finest entertainers in show business today. He has been the featured hypnotist on the QE2, Princess, Countess, Sagafjord and Oceanic cruise ships, appearing with Hollywood stars such as Norm Crosby, Steve Allen, Jane Meadows, Barbi Benton, Jim Bailey, Jack Jones, Vic Damone, The Platters, Robert Klein, Phyllis Diller and Robert Vaughan. Jerry has also been the guest star on many television shows such as "Good Day," "People Are Talking" and on ABC'S "20/20."

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To elucidate the role of music therapy in gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures following the conflicting outcomes reported in two recent studies. The findings of our recent meta-analysis that examined this matter were discussed in the context of later studies. Our meta-analysis illustrated the beneficial effects of music therapy on patient anxiety levels when used as a single measure of relaxation and analgesia. Beneficial effects were also shown on analgesia and sedation requirements and procedure duration times when used as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy. These findings are in agreement with those of both studies excluded from analysis and those that followed it. Music therapy is an effective tool for stress relief and analgesia in patients undergoing gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures.

World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Sep 7;13(33):4533. Rudin D. King's Daughters' Hospital and Health Services, Madison, IN 47250, USA. rudind@gmail.com

Neurofunctional mechanisms underlying cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) are still not clearly understood. This functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study focused on changes in brain activation as a result of one-session CBT in patients suffering from spider phobia. Twenty-six female spider phobics and 25 non-phobic subjects were presented with spider pictures, generally disgust-inducing, generally fear-inducing and affectively neutral scenes in an initial fMRI session. Afterwards, the patients were randomly assigned to either a therapy group (TG) or a waiting list group (WG). The scans were repeated one week after the treatment or after a one-week waiting period. Relative to the non-phobic participants, the patients displayed increased activation in the amygdala and the fusiform gyrus as well as decreased activation in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during the first exposure. The therapy effect consisted of increased medial OFC activity in the TG relative to the WG. Further, therapy-related reductions in experienced somatic anxiety symptoms were positively correlated with activation decreases in the amygdala and the insula. We conclude that successful treatment of spider phobia is primarily accompanied by functional changes of the medial OFC. This brain region is crucial for the self-regulation of emotions and the relearning of stimulus-reinforcement associations.

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007 Sep 27 Schienle A, Schäfer A, Hermann A, Rohrmann S, Vaitl D. Clinical Psychology, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Universitätsplatz 2/III, 8010, Graz, Austria.

Dr. David Kato provides seminars, lectures, and workshops in medical departments in universities, hospitals, to hypnotherapists, midwives & physicians in the USA and UK and is a NRAH Accredited Advanced Trainer.

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Cancer pain management guidelines recommend nondrug interventions as adjuvants to analgesic medications. Although physicians typically are responsible for pharmacologic pain treatments, oncology staff nurses, who spend considerable time with patients, are largely responsible for identifying and implementing nondrug pain treatments. Oncology nurses' use of nondrug interventions, however, has not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to describe oncology nurses' use of four nondrug interventions (music, guided imagery, relaxation, distraction) and to identify factors that influence their use in practice. A national sample of 724 oncology staff nurses completed a mailed survey regarding use of the nondrug interventions in practice, beliefs about the interventions, and demographic characteristics. The percentages of nurses who reported administering the strategies in practice at least sometimes were 54% for music, 40% for guided imagery, 82% for relaxation, and 80% for distraction. Use of each nondrug intervention was predicted by a composite score on beliefs about effectiveness of the intervention (e.g., perceived benefit; P<0.025) and a composite score on beliefs about support for carrying out the intervention (e.g., time; P<0.025). In addition, use of guided imagery was predicted by a composite score on beliefs about characteristics of patients who may benefit from the intervention (e.g., cognitive ability; P<0.05). Some nurse demographic, professional preparation, and practice environment characteristics also predicted use of individual nondrug interventions. Efforts to improve application of nondrug interventions should focus on innovative educational strategies, problem solving to secure support, and development and testing of new delivery methods that require less time from busy staff nurses.

J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007 Oct 22 Kwekkeboom KL, Bumpus M, Wanta B, Serlin RC. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

While cognitive behavior therapy has been found to be effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a significant percentage of patients struggle with residual symptoms. There is some conceptual basis for suggesting that cultivation of mindfulness may be helpful for people with GAD. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group treatment derived from mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues. MBSR uses training in mindfulness meditation as the core of the program. MBCT incorporates cognitive strategies and has been found effective in reducing relapse in patients with major depression (Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V., Soulsby, J., & Lau, M. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 6, 615-623). METHOD: Eligible subjects recruited to a major academic medical center participated in the group MBCT course and completed measures of anxiety, worry, depressive symptoms, mood states and mindful awareness in everyday life at baseline and end of treatment. RESULTS: Eleven subjects (six female and five male) with a mean age of 49 (range=36-72) met criteria and completed the study. There were significant reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms from baseline to end of treatment. CONCLUSION: MBCT may be an acceptable and potentially effective treatment for reducing anxiety and mood symptoms and increasing awareness of everyday experiences in patients with GAD. Future directions include development of a randomized clinical trial of MBCT for GAD.

J Anxiety Disord. 2007 Jul 22 Evans S, Ferrando S, Findler M, Stowell C, Smart C, Haglin D. Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, United States.

Ernest L. Rossi, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned therapist, teacher and pioneer in the psychobiology of mind-body healing. The author of more than 24 professional books, Dr. Rossi worked with Milton Erickson for eight years and co-authored three classic volumes on therapeutic hypnosis with him. Rossi has also edited four volumes of Erickson's Collected Papers and four volumes of Erickson's Seminars, Workshops and Lectures.

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by Signe Klepp, O.T.

(This is an abstract from an article which appeared in Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine Volume Seventeen, Number Two)

Patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) lose the ability to structure their own life. Rehabilitation is expensive in time, money and effort. A noninvasive, patient-controlled method, binaural-beat auditory stimulation, may elicit changes in states if consciousness and mood. This study assesses the feasibility and efficacy of using this method to improve self-esteem, quality of life and function of daily living for persons suffering from old TBI.

Signe Klepp - amps@kleppconsult.no

Muscle and eye movement artifacts are very prominent in the ictal EEG of patients suffering from epilepsy, thus making the dipole localization of ictal activity very unreliable. Recently, two techniques (BSS-CCA and pSVD) were developed to remove those artifacts. The purpose of this study is to assess whether the removal of muscle and eye movement artifacts improves the EEG dipole source localization. We used a total of 8 EEG fragments, each from another patient, first unfiltered, then filtered by the BSS-CCA and pSVD. In both the filtered and unfiltered EEG fragments we estimated multiple dipoles using RAP-MUSIC. The resulting dipoles were subjected to a K-means clustering algorithm, to extract the most prominent cluster. We found that the removal of muscle and eye artifact results to tighter and more clear dipole clusters. Furthermore, we found that localization of the filtered EEG corresponded with the localization derived from the ictal SPECT in 7 of the 8 patients. Therefore, we can conclude that the BSS-CCA and pSVD improve localization of ictal activity, thus making the localization more reliable for the presurgical evaluation of the patient.

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2006;1:1002-5. Hallez H, Vergult A, Phlypo R, Van Hese P, De Clercq W, D'Asseler Y, Van de Walle R, Vanrumste B, Van Paesschen W, Van Huffel S, Lemahieu I. Dept. of Electron. & Inf. Syst., Ghent Univ.

Groddeck, most interestingly, proposed that the body manifested the mind, and the mind the body. I consider his interactional viewpoint from several perspectives. First, I discuss how the entire body not only is minded by and minding of all that occurs within and without, but as well how the developable capacity for mindfulness affects the perception of reality, within and without. Secondly, I consider the body as delusion, a seemingly necessary anchor into the reality of the physical world, whereas Groddeck's and Ferenczi's openness to ideas of telepathy and communication beyond death flirts with a disembodied transcendence of physicality. And third, I propose that Groddeck's psychoanalytic approach, like Buddhist meditational techniques, reveals an experiential flux of embodiment and disembodiment in each re-embodied moment of being alive.

Am J Psychoanal. 2007 Sep;67(3):249-59. Langan R. Center for Applied Psychoanalysis, William Alanson White Institute. rlangan@psychoanalysis.net

Patients with cancer commonly experience pain, which typically is controlled pharmacologically. Despite advances in pain management, pain continues to be undertreated. Nonpharmacologic measures may effectively manage pain but often are overlooked or underused. Nurses who are familiar with simple, noninvasive, nonpharmacologic measures, such as patient positioning, thermal measures, massage therapy, aromatherapy, and mind-body therapies, can identify and educate patients who may benefit from nonpharmacologic interventions.

Clin J Oncol Nurs. 2007 Oct;11(5):699-704. Gatlin CG, Schulmeister L. River Ridge, LA.

Doug is a Certified Master Practitioner and Trainer by Richard Bandler with The Society of Neuro-Linguistic Programming. He is a Certified Trainer of Hypnotherapy, certified with the American Board of Hypnotherapy.

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Despite modern advances in clinical psychopharmacology, mental disorders are still the leading cause of disability all over the world. Drug treatment of mental disorders is unfortunately too often associated with partial remissions, frequent relapse or recurrence as well as with persistent residual symptoms, distress and low levels of well-being, life-satisfaction and quality of life. The practical failure of psychopharmacotherapy to improve life-satisfaction and well-being is related to treatment focus on psychopathology and decrease of illness and not on the development of wellness, purpose of life and creativity. NLP, life coaching and well-being therapy may significantly increase effectiveness of psychopharmacotherapy shaping an efficient and meaningful treatment context for achieving a full recovery.

Psychiatr Danub. 2007 Sep;19(3):195-201. Jakovljevic M. University Psychiatric Clinic Rebro, Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. miro.jakovljevic@mef.hr

Western psychological research on positive psychology and Buddhism have recently converged in their emphasis on the development of positive states, like states of excellence and veryday happiness. Yet, these traditions differ in their approaches to positive states, with respect to a state-trait and doing-being distinction. Western scientific research on peak performance emphasizes discontinuous, time-limited peak performance states wherein individuals do things extraordinarily well in sports and in the arts. The Eastern spiritual traditions emphasize continuous excellence of being, in the form of traits or character strengths. In both traditions mental imagery is a key ingredient to excellence training. With respect to everyday happiness, Western psychological research has focused on the role of meaning systems in the transformation of flow states into vital engagement in everyday life, while Buddhism stresses the role of meditation training to gain mastery over all levels of mind that leads to everyday happiness. Rorschach and tachistoscopic research on advanced meditators suggests that advance meditators have gained unusual mastery over states of mind not yet documented in the Western psychological research on positive psychology.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep 28 Brown DP. Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 997 Chestnut St., Newton, Massachusetts, 02464, United States; , 997 Chestnut St., Newton, Massachusetts, 02464, United States.

Craig is a dynamic individual who is highly motivated to see his clients reach their maximum potential. A certified hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of NLP, he applies the understandings of how the subconscious works with his coaching clients to help them develop what he refers to as the "Success Mind." Craig is the Founder and President of San Francisco Bay Area Hypnosis & NLP practice group, Co-founder and Director of Act Now International L.L.C., Success Coach, author, trainer, and business consultant.

For more information visit: www.ActNowLLC.com

Relationships were investigated between home practice of mindfulness meditation exercises and levels of mindfulness, medical and psychological symptoms, perceived stress, and psychological well-being in a sample of 174 adults in a clinical Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This is an 8- session group program for individuals dealing with stress-related problems, illness, anxiety, and chronic pain. Participants completed measures of mindfulness, perceived stress, symptoms, and well-being at pre- and post-MBSR, and monitored their home practice time throughout the intervention. Results showed increases in mindfulness and well-being, and decreases in stress and symptoms, from pre- to post-MBSR. Time spent engaging in home practice of formal meditation exercises (body scan, yoga, sitting meditation) was significantly related to extent of improvement in most facets of mindfulness and several measures of symptoms and well-being. Increases in mindfulness were found to mediate the relationships between formal mindfulness practice and improvements in psychological functioning, suggesting that the practice of mindfulness meditation leads to increases in mindfulness, which in turn leads to symptom reduction and improved well-being.

J Behav Med. 2007 Sep 25 Carmody J, Baer RA. Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Shaw Building, Room 214, 55 Lake Ave North, Worcester, MA, 01655, USA, james.carmody@umassmed.edu.

by Jonathan D. Cowan, Ph.D.

(This is an abstract from an article which appeared in Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine Volume Seventeen, Number Two)

This paper proposes a new understanding of the relationship between brain, mind and other biofields based in the emergent properties of the brain's parallel structure, which creates a brain "laser." Several thalamocoritical rhythms, including a 40 cycle per second oscillation associated with event scanning and a faster EEG rhythm found in healers and others, are hypothesized to give rise to coherent electromagnetic radiation, as well as multifaceted coherent radiation in the additional dimensions posited by string theory. These rhythms cause repetitive excitation of the sugar/protein coatings of the parallel axons of the thalamocoratical columns. The synchronous excitation of these glycocalyxes of the parallel columns will cause similar chemical bonds to resonate and entrain one another, giving rise to coherent radiation. This electromagnetic/multifaceted radiation forms highly complex interference patterns (termed "mentaholomorphic fields") when they interact with each other and the electromagnetic/multifaceted activity in the cortical layers. The resulting mentaholomorphic fields may be related to thought, mind and particular sates of consciousness.

Jonathan D. Cowan, Ph.D. Peak Achievement Training 1103 Hollendale Way. Goshen, KY 40026 jon@peakachievement.com

A.M. Krasner Ph.D. is the founder and director of the American Institute of Hypnotherapy in Irvine, California. An innovator in the hypnotherapy profession, Dr. Krasner began his private clinical practice in Rhode Island over 20 years ago. He moved to Southern California in the late 1970s where he developed his highly effective hypnotherapeutic methods. Dr. Krasner founded the A.I.H. in 1981, to teach his methods to others. Since then, he has taught thousands of students from all over the world to help other people, using his unique hypnosis techniques.

Zen meditation, a Buddhist practice centered on attentional and postural self-regulation, has been speculated to bring about beneficial long-term effects for the individual, ranging from stress reduction to improvement of cognitive function. In this study, we examined how the regular practice of meditation may affect the normal age-related decline of cerebral gray matter volume and attentional performance observed in healthy individuals. Voxel-based morphometry for MRI anatomical brain images and a computerized sustained attention task were employed in 13 regular practitioners of Zen meditation and 13 matched controls. While control subjects displayed the expected negative correlation of both gray matter volume and attentional performance with age, meditators did not show a significant correlation of either measure with age. The effect of meditation on gray matter volume was most prominent in the putamen, a structure strongly implicated in attentional processing. These findings suggest that the regular practice of meditation may have neuroprotective effects and reduce the cognitive decline associated with normal aging.

Neurobiol Aging. 2007 Oct;28(10):1623-7. Pagnoni G, Cekic M. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, 101 Woodruff Circle, Suite 4000, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. gpagnon@emory.edu

Dr. Feldman is the co-founder and Director of The Institute of Hypnotherapy in New Jersey, a State approved private vocational school for Hypnotherapy. Dr. Feldman has his Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, an M.B.A., B.S. in Psychology and Computer Engineering. Dr. Feldman is the Vice-Chairman of the Council of Professional Hypnosis Organizations, Director-Association of Professionals for the Advancement of Therapeutic Hypnosis, and Fellow of the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association and International Hypnosis Federation.

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Hypnosis has been shown to be efficacious in a range of clinical conditions, including the management of chronic pain. However, not all individuals are able to enter a hypnotic state, thereby limiting the clinical utility of this technique. We sought to determine whether hypnotic susceptibility could be increased using three methods thought to facilitate relaxation, with particular interest in an EEG neurofeedback protocol which elevated the theta to alpha ratio. This was compared with progressive muscle relaxation and self-hypnosis. Ten subjects with moderate levels of susceptibility (2-7/12) were randomly assigned to each condition and assessed for hypnotic susceptibility prior to and upon completion of 10 sessions of training. Hypnotic susceptibility increased post-training in all groups, providing further evidence that operant control over the theta/alpha ratio is possible, but contrary to our predictions, elevation of the theta/alpha ratio proved no more successful than the other interventions. Nonetheless, all three techniques successfully enhanced hypnotic susceptibility in over half of the participants (17/30), a similar incidence to that reported using other methods. As previously reported, the majority who were not susceptible to modification were at the lower levels of susceptibility, and the greater increases tended to occur in the more susceptible subjects. However, here enhancement was disclosed in some at low levels, and capability was found of reaching high levels, both features not typically reported. Further research is warranted.

Brain Res Bull. 2006 Dec 11;71(1-3):83-90. Batty MJ, Bonnington S, Tang BK, Hawken MB, Gruzelier JH. Imperial College, London W6 8RP, UK.

In this EEG study we sought to examine the neuronal underpinnings of short-term plasticity as a top-down guided auditory learning process. We hypothesized, that (i) auditory imagery should elicit proper auditory evoked effects (N1/P2 complex) and a late positive component (LPC). Generally, based on recent human brain mapping studies we expected (ii) to observe the involvement of different temporal and parietal lobe areas in imagery and in perception of acoustic stimuli. Furthermore we predicted (iii) that temporal regions show an asymmetric trend due to the different specialization of the temporal lobes in processing speech and non-speech sounds. Finally we sought evidence supporting the notion that short-term training is sufficient to drive top-down activity in brain regions that are not normally recruited by sensory induced bottom up processing. Methods: 18 non-musicians partook in a 30 channels based EEG session that investigated spatio-temporal dynamics of auditory imagery of "consonant-vowel" (CV) syllables and piano triads. To control for conditioning effects, we split the volunteers in two matched groups comprising the same conditions (visual, auditory or bimodal stimulation) presented in a slightly different serial order. Furthermore the study presents electromagnetic source localization (LORETA) of perception and imagery of CV- and piano stimuli. Results: Our results imply that auditory imagery elicited similar electrophysiological effects at an early stage (N1/P2) as auditory stimulation. However, we found an additional LPC following the N1/P2 for auditory imagery only. Source estimation evinced bilateral engagement of anterior temporal cortex, which was generally stronger for imagery of music relative to imagery of speech. While we did not observe lateralized activity for the imagery of syllables we noted significantly increased rightward activation over the anterior supratemporal plane for musical imagery. Conclusion: Thus, we conclude that short-term top-down training based auditory imagery of music and speech prompts involvement of distinct neural circuits residing in the perisylvian cortex.

Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2007;25(3-4):411-31. Meyer M, Elmer S, Baumann S, Jancke L. Institute of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.

There has been a growing emphasis on evaluating and improving the experience of the hospitalized patient. In 2004, the Cardiovascular Surgery team at Mayo Clinic Rochester, though achieving a high level of technical expertise and clinical outcomes, recognized that patients were not rating their overall hospital experience as highly as was expected. After a systematic evaluation of the hospital experience, tension, stress, pain, and anxiety were identified as key challenges for patients. A multidisciplinary team was created to evaluate pain management practices and explore methods for reducing pain, anxiety, and tension. An extensive review of the literature and site visits to other institutions provided the foundation for the program. The term "Healing Enhancement" was coined to identify the goals of this emerging paradigm that focused on all aspects of the patient's experience-mind, body, and spirit. Integrated therapies such as music, massage, guided imagery, and relaxation training were explored to measure their role in patient care.

Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2007 Nov;13(4):217-23. Cutshall SM, Fenske LL, Kelly RF, Phillips BR, Sundt TM, Bauer BA. Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.

In the summer of 2004, Dr. Weisberg and a colleague were invited to give a Grand Rounds at one of the first mind/body medicine hospitals in the United States, located on Waimea, Big Island, Hawaii. He met with Earl Bakken, founder of Medtronic, and discussed strategies for maximizing effectiveness of mind/body treatments in community hospitals. Because of his interest and expertise in psychophysiological aspects of chronic pain, Dr. Weisberg is sought out by law firms to provide expert forensic testimony in personal injury cases.

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Could theoretical links exist between homeopathy and conventional medicine? In homeopathy, disturbance of the self-regulating Vital Force (Vf) results in dis-ease as multileveled symptom expression. Treatment aids the Vf as it attempts to restore holistic balance. Conventional medicine (allopathy) deterministically considers external agents (viruses, bacteria, etc.) or internal biochemical imbalances as disease causes. Treatment is geared to eradicating causative factors, sometimes at the expense of the homeostatic immune system. Method: A previous mathematical model described the Vf as a quantized gyroscopic "wave function," equating strength of symptom expression to degree of Vf gyroscopic "precession." Diseases and homeopathic remedies were interpreted respectively as braking and accelerating "torques" on Vf "angular momentum." In this paper, approximations applied to the Vf "wave function" could provide insights into why conventional medicine dismisses the action of highly potentized homeopathic remedies. In addition, a simple geometric force diagram provides another mathematical model for allopathic drug action and immune system reaction. Results: The 2 models converge on the same result, delivering conventional biomedicine's conclusion: potentized homeopathic remedies should exert no clinically observable effects. Conclusions: Following the logic of these models, conventional medicine could be seen as a special case of a broader therapeutic paradigm also containing homeopathy.

J Altern Complement Med. 2007 Sep;13(7):759-70. Milgrom LR. Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, South Kensington, United Kingdom.

Steve Boyley is an experienced Licensed Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Hypnotherapy. While he lives in BC, Canada, he trains people worldwide and is a successful Trainer, Hypnotherapist, Consultant, Salesman and Entrepreneur. Steve Boyley has a passion for teaching you what works and has been teaching communication skills in sales and business since 1984.

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by Dr. Harry Oldfield

(This is an abstract from an article which appeared in Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine Volume Seventeen, Number Two)

This presentation is a visual journey spanning three decades of research into the invisible energy fields which are the matrix or blueprint of human beings and other living organisms. The journey begins back in the 1970's with Kirlian Photography experiments and amazing images, on to the development of Electro-Crystal Generator and the Electro-Scanning Method (ESM) to quantitatively scan the Energy Field in three dimensions. Then in the 1980's comes Polycontrast Interference Photography (PIP) which shows the invisible field, including chakras, acupuncture points and meridians, in high resolution color patterns in and around the body, giving three-dimensional information on the state of balance and health of the subject. More recently, the Oldfield Microscope, a significant improvement on the optical microscope, is able to show the invisible energy patterns in the microscopic world in the living state. Sometimes the investigation into subtle realms reveals the presence of invisible energy forms and entities which share our planes of existence and interact with us in different ways. These cutting edge technologies are true 21st century tools in the study of subtle energies and energy medicine.

For more information visit www.ElectroCrystal.com and www.OldFieldMicro.com

Current neuroimaging and neurophysiologic techniques have substantially increased our possibilities to study processes related to various language functions in the intact human brain. Learning to read and write influences the functional organization of the brain. What is universal and what is specific in the languages of the world are important issues. Most studies on healthy bilinguals indicate that essentially the same neural mechanisms are used for first and second languages, albeit with some linguistic and cultural influences related to speech and writing systems, particularly between alphabetical and nonalphabetical languages. Proficiency, age of acquisition, and amount of exposure can affect the cerebral representations of the languages. Accumulating data support the important role of working memory for acquiring high proficiency in the reading of native and second languages. It is proposed that longitudinal studies on second language acquisition are essential and that the specific problems related to second language learning in dyslexic children should have high priority.

Ann Dyslexia. 2006 Jun;56(1):13-50. Johansson BB. Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund University, Sweden. Barbro.Johansson@med.lu.se

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been commonly thought of as a childhood disorder that diminished over time. It is one of the most common developmental disorders and it is estimated that ADHD affects 5-10% of children. Two-thirds of children with ADHD will continue to have symptoms of ADHD that persist throughout adolescence. Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that symptoms of ADHD can also remain in adulthood, affecting 4.4% of the adult population. However, diagnosing adults with ADHD can prove difficult because they often find that their symptoms are egosyntonic. In addition, the development of comorbid conditions, such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders or substance abuse, can often overshadow underlying ADHD symptoms. Nonetheless, treatments such as stimulant and nonstimulant medication (e.g., atomoxetine), and cognitive-behavior therapy have been effective in treating adults with ADHD. This article reviews the prevalence of adults with ADHD, followed by a discussion of the neurobiological and genetic underpinnings of the disorder. Issues regarding the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD are also addressed.

Expert Rev Neurother. 2007 Oct;7(10):1375-90. Cumyn L, Kolar D, Keller A, Hechtman L. McGill University, Department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, 3700 McTavish St., Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2. lucy.cumyn@mail.mcgill.ca

Mr. De Bruyn has been working in hypnosis work since 1961. He lives and works in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and focuses primarily in the area of personal growth using hypnosis and NLP. His operating philosophy is that human potential is unlimited. Any person can achieve what others have accomplished – and more. This can be done through the intelligent application of well-tested change techniques such as NLP modeling and hypnosis. There is no reason to settle for less, "If you can dream it, you can do it."

This overview surveys the new optimism about the aging mind/brain, focusing on the potential for self-regulation practices to advance research in stress-protection and optimal health. It reviews recent findings and offers a research framework. The review links the age-related biology of stress and regeneration to the variability of mind/brain function found under a range of conditions from trauma to enrichment. The framework maps this variation along a biphasic continuum from atrophic dysfunction to peak performance. It adopts the concept of allostatic load as a measure of the wear-and-tear caused by stress, and environmental enrichment as a measure of the use-dependent enhancement caused by positive reinforcement. It frames the dissociation, aversive affect and stereotyped reactions linked with stress as cognitive, affective and behavioral forms of allostatic drag; and the association, positive affect and creative responses in enrichment as forms of allostatic lift. It views the human mind/brain as a heterarchy of higher intelligence systems that shift between a conservative, egocentric mode heightening self-preservation and memory; and a generative, altruistic mode heightening self-correction and learning. Cultural practices like meditation and psychotherapy work by teaching the self-regulation of shifts from the conservative to the generative mode. This involves a systems shift from allostatic drag to allostatic lift, minimizing wear-and-tear and optimizing plasticity and learning. For cultural practices to speed research and application, a universal typology is needed. This framework includes a typology aligning current brain models of stress and learning with traditional Indo-Tibetan models of meditative stress-cessation and learning enrichment.

Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Sep 28 Loizzo JJ. Nalanda Institute, 16 East 65th Street, New York, New York, 10021, United States; Complementary & Integrative Medicine, Weill-Cornell Medical College, 525 East 68th Street, New York, New York, 10021, United States.

Henry Leo Bolduc has a remarkable 40 years of experience in the field of hypnotherapy. He is the author of five books, numerous audio cassettes and also more than 200 published articles. Henry's focus is on healing the present through past-live experience.

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Given the current necessity of retaining qualified nurses, a self-care program consisting of Yoga, Tai Chi, Meditation classes, and Reiki healing sessions was designed for a university-based hospital. The effectiveness of these interventions was evaluated using self-care journals and analyzed using a Heideggerian phenomenological approach. Outcomes of the self-care classes described by nurses included: (a) noticing sensations of warmth, tingling, and pulsation which were relaxing, (b) becoming aware of an enhanced problem solving ability, and (c) noticing an increased ability to focus on patient needs. Hospitals willing to invest in self-care options for nurses can anticipate patient and work related benefits.

Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2007 Oct;28(10):1141-55. Raingruber B, Robinson C. University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacremento, California, USA.

Dr. Conrad Adams has a BA in Speech, MS in Clinical Hypnotherapy, and PhD in Metaphysical Theology. He is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.

Currently he serves on the IMDHA Advisory Board as Director of Holistic Education and is currently certified by that organization as an Hypnoanesthesia Therapist as well as Master Sensory Integration Therapist.

Conrad is a Diplomat in the International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association. He was awarded Therapist of the Year by the International Association of Counselors & Therapists in 2002.

For more information visit: www.InfinityHypnosis.net