A disabled Berkeley artist gets inside own head with her work

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 11, 2008

APAINTING by UC Berkeley art professor Katherine Sherwood contains surprising medical content.

Some of the blue-and-white swirls behind a mystical medieval symbol are not painted on: They're actually an angiogram of blood vessels in the artist's brain.

Even before a brain hemorrhage paralyzed her right side 10 years ago, Sherwood was interested in depicting the brain. But after the event, Sherwood started incorporating her angiograms into her art as a form of personal and occupational therapy.

It took her six months to learn how to paint with her left hand and to regain the stamina to do so. "When I did return to the studio, I knew my angiograms were the way into working again. They could stand in for me, my blood, my brain," Sherwood says.

-- Washington Post

Generation me

Narcissistic? Maybe not so much. A report in the February issue of Psychological Science refutes a widely publicized 2006 study that found that contemporary youths are measurably more overconfident and egotistical than their predecessors. That view, frequently bolstered by anecdotal evidence, is often blamed on child-rearing practices that have placed a premium on boosting self-esteem.

Using scores from a questionnaire known as the Narcissistic Personality Inventory completed by 25,000 California college students between 1979 and 2007, a team led by social psychologist Kali H. Trzesniewski of the University of Western Ontario analyzed changes in measurements of grandiosity, exhibitionism, a sense of entitlement and a preoccupation with power and success.

They found no evidence that levels of narcissism had changed.

This conclusion contradicts earlier findings by other researchers using much the same data who reported that narcissism had increased and attributed the increase to changes in the way children were being raised.

"We believe that great care needs to be exercised when making broad generalizations about cohort-related increases in narcissism," Trzesniewski and colleagues from the University of California at Davis and Michigan State University wrote.

Theirs is unlikely to be the final word on the subject: Other studies are under way.

-- Washington Post

Whoa, baby

Parents who want to reduce their infants' exposure to phthalates, chemicals suspected of impairing male reproductive function, should not apply baby lotions or powders -- except for medical reasons. So concludes a study published online this week in the journal Pediatrics.

Phthalates -- man-made chemicals used in the manufacture of lubricants, cosmetics and plastic products including children's toys -- get into the air, liquids and the skin. Young children have been shown to have especially high concentrations. But although researchers have speculated that sucking and chewing on toys and playing on dusty floors may account for this, no study has looked at sources of children's exposure.

The Pediatrics study measured phthalates in the urine of 163 infants (2 to 28 months old) against their mothers' reports of the babies' behavior in the previous 24 hours. The mothers were asked about use of infant powders, diaper creams, wipes, shampoo and lotion. They were also asked how many hours their infants played with items such as teething rings and pacifiers.

All the infants' urine had phthalates. Use of powder, lotion and shampoo was tied to higher concentrations, especially in younger infants. No such link was found with use of pacifiers, plastic toys or diaper cream.

Lead author Sheela Sathyanarayana, an acting assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, advised parents of newborns to buy phthalate-free baby products and "limit (phthalate) exposures to the lowest amount possible."

John Bailey, chief scientist at the Personal Care Products Council, representing makers of baby care products, called the advice unwarranted. Only one of the seven phthalates found in the babies' urine -- diethyl phthalate, or DEP -- is used in personal care products for children, and, he said, it has been shown safe. DEP, he said, "is not a public health concern. ... This is not good advice to be giving to consumers, to mothers."

-- Washington Post

Tasty Q&A

Feeling a little grumpy today? Maybe it's your diet that's to blame. Several studies show that what you eat can affect your attitude. Here's a quiz to see how much you know about food and its affect on your mood. (Answers below.)

1. Protein can perk you up when you are running out of energy.

True or false?

2. A small carbohydrate serving, like fiber-rich cereal with fat- free milk, can relieve anxiety and help you get to sleep at night.

True or false?

3. Bananas, milk and leafy greens help stimulate dopamine production, which helps calm nerves.

True or false?

4. Folate (found in spinach, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cereals and citrus fruit juices) helps regulate histamine, which benefits libido.

True or false?

5. Fish that is rich in omega-3 acids raise levels of serotonin in the brain, which can ease symptoms of depression.

True or false?