Hi Trinity,

I checked out the LONI website. In particular, I read the information regarding UCLA's current projects with Alzheimer's disease and ADD. My grandmother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer�s and I've been trying to read as much about the disease as possible. I want to be prepared for what may happen to her as the disease progresses.

I clicked on the link to browse the image database. It must be malfunctioning at this time. The images never appeared. I'll try again later. I previously saw the images of "Your Brain on Meth" in another publication. I purposely showed the images of the healthy brain and the image of the heavily damaged Meth brain to my children. It's my hope these images of real brains will be powerful enough to influence children to stay off drugs. (Along with all the other drug resistance programs, of course.)

I'm curious if any brain scans of people who regularly take prescription drugs are available to the public. We have seen the physical damage illegal drugs do to the brain and subsequently we've learned about the mental deficiencies caused by the physical damage. I've read in scientific journals about the dangers of drugs like Ritalin and other drugs such as anti-depressants and statin drugs. The authors claim these drugs are effective at meeting the needs for which they are designed, but the side effects are very damaging to the brain. I wonder if the damage they are claiming is remotely equivalent to the damage Meth causes?

I gather you are also interested in the newest technologies and breakthrough discoveries on exactly how the brain works and what it needs to stay in peak performance. The last book I read on the subject is "Making a Good Brain Great" by Dr. Daniel G. Amen. I highly recommend this book.

The next book I will be reading is "Education of the Gifted and Talented", by Gary Davis. This is the textbook for several of the courses offered at Denver University for grad students specializing in Gifted Education. I thought it might be useful to read the same books the teachers of GT programs are reading. It seems the teachers and I are often in different camps, and maybe we could come together if I better understood the road they traveled.

What books have you enjoyed reading in regards to the brain and especially the gifted brain? "Genius Denied" was the first book on giftedness I read and it kicked off my drive to learn more about the science of the brain.


Thanks for the interesting link to LONI.

Sincerely,

Jonette