When it comes to the brain and the iq, is bigger the better? does size really matter? is there really a connection between the size of your brain and intelligence? with the help of findings by neurologists 
And scientists, we seek to find out!

1. Ailments and the brain: scientists have found that children with autism have a brain that has grown in a disproportionate manner in the very first year of their life. This prevents the child from making connections with normal behaviour. On the other hand, children and adolescents who suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or adhd have shown signs of having a much smaller brain size. Many scientists have shown that the size of the brain shrinks as we age, and this does not have any visible effect on our cognitive abilities.

2. It's all relative: the size of the brain does not really have a bearing on the way a person's cognition gets shaped. Even large mammals like elephants and whales are finally hunted and tamed by humans who have smaller brains in comparison. The brain is made up of billions of neurons which need to function properly. It may be seen that scientists consider the brain mass in relation with the rest of the body so as to speculate about the cognitive abilities of the person. Why is this required? large animals need a well functioning and proportionate brain size to control and run their organs with proper cognition for satisfactory results, which is what we humans seem to have done.

3. Neanderthal brains: historically, the earliest man or the neanderthals are said to have had larger brains than we do. These people are believed to have brains that are at least 10% larger than the brains that we have in our modern times. The shape of their brain was different too. They were also heavily muscled people which had a bearing on the size and shape of the brain and bodies as well as the lean tissue within the brain. They also survived very successfully for a period of over 200, 000 years, which obviously points to some form of elevated cognition, as per many scientists.

4. Animals: while animals with small brains like lizards and reptiles do not perform too well on iq tests, the animals with bigger brains like elephants and dolphins perform much better. But the medium sized brains of monkeys, lemurs and other animals are said to perform in the best manner. The correlation between the body size and the brain does not seem to hold good here, as per various researches.

So the verdict as per medical science and research stands divided!

Is There an Association Between Brain Size and Intelligence?

Do you have a family member or a close friend who is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a disorder, which causes anxiety, and is also known as anxiety disorder. The disorder is featured by continuous, uncontrollable and unpleasant thoughts. OCD causes a patient s mind to get stuck on a certain inclination. Obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior patterns indicate OCD.
Dealing with an OCD patient

After the initial diagnosis, a patient with OCD enters the stage of acute treatment. The treatment aims at coping with and overcoming the symptoms of OCD.

Education: Patients with OCD should get to know as much as possible about the disorder they are suffering from. You should help an OCD affected patient by providing them the opportunity to read about the disease, and talk to other patients, along with regular appointments with a clinician. A treatment plan has to be developed. OCD patients in an acute treatment stage should be taken to a doctor every week, in order to discuss their progress.
Therapy: Therapy helps them cope with the symptoms of OCD. Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is undertaken for treating patients with OCD. This mode of treatment gives the patients psychological tools, which help them resist the ill effects of the condition.
Medication: Medicines are not required for all OCD patients. Some patients diagnosed with the condition are prescribed selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor or SSIs for dealing with the symptoms of OCD. The medicines should be taken for a period of three to four weeks before any results are experienced. 12 weeks are required for a patient to know whether the medicines are working or not. An SRI is ineffective in some cases, and you may be prescribed a non-selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor like Clomipramine. This affects the serotonin, but has positive impacts on other neurotransmitters in your brain.
Family support: Family members play an important part in helping OCD patients manage their condition by providing constant support, staying calm, and being educated about the condition. OCD patients should be treated with affection and should be complimented often. The observations of the patient by family members help a doctor in determining the patient s condition. As a family member or close friend, you must never be critical about the patient or state negative comments about his condition. Such feedback causes the patient s condition to worsen. Family members should discuss all problems they face regarding the patient to a doctor.
Patients who have completed OCD treatment require monthly check ups with a doctor for six months. A year of cognitive therapy is required to be carried out, along with the intake of prescribed medicines.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - How To Handle It?

Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder in recent days, is a major mood disorder characterized by hypomanic or manic episodes (deviation from one's usual mood along with abnormally high energy levels). Mania involves sleeplessness, along with psychosis, hallucinations, rage, grandiose delusions or paranoia. Mania or hypomania isn t usually harmful to the patient and they might exhibit increased capacity for work and creativity. Depressive episodes however, can be debilitating and often life threatening as the person becomes self-destructive and suicidal in many instances. 

The extent of mood swings can vary from extreme to very mild. They can occur progressively or suddenly and might last for few days to weeks. Patients affected by bipolar disorder may experience disturbances in thinking apart from depressive or manic episodes. Distortions of perception and impaired social functioning are also not uncommon. The cause of bipolar disorder is not fully understood like most mental health conditions and is often thought to be hereditary.

The extent of the seriousness of the bipolar symptoms varies from person to person. In some people, the disorder is not full blown and they don t exhibit all the symptoms. Others who aren t that lucky might have to be hospitalized multiple times in their lives as the symptoms creep into their work and personal life and make living a normal life a tough challenge. 

Psychotic symptoms such as disorganized thinking, hallucinations and delusions might make a person do things that demand the urgency of hospitalization to keep them safe from their suicidal impulses. These symptoms might need to be urgently addressed by a psychiatrist and with the help of medications, the person might be able to regain control of their lives.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder are many and can be mainly categorized into two (sometimes overlapping) categories of mania or hypomania and depression:

Manic symptoms include: 

Grandiose delusions (delusion of grandeur) 
Racing thoughts which are often disconnected
Sense of euphoria or false elation
Irritability without cause
Hampered social functioning
Increased sexual inclination and risky sexual behavior
Hyperactivity
Increase in talking volume or speed
Impaired judgment
Reduced sleep requirements owing to extra energy levels
Increased productivity and creativity
Depressive symptoms include:

Abnormal eating patterns like over or under-eating to the extent of severe medical complications accompanied by drastic changes in weight
Difficulty in concentration, making decisions and remembering
Lack of energy or fatigue 
Contemplating about death for prolonged periods of time and suicidal behavior
Oversleeping, insomnia or early awakening
Persistent pessimism 
Irritability and restlessness
Feeling of hopeless and negative attitude
Mood stabilizers, such as lithium are commonly employed to treat bipolar disorder. Anti convulsants, benzodiazepines and anti psychotics can also be used in the treatment. Along with medications, support from family and friends is of the utmost importance as they need to help provide all the support required in making the person functional and healthy.

Manic Depressive Disorder - 11 Signs to Help You Spot it 

Aphasia is a communication disability that can result from damage or injury to those parts of the brain that process language. It can happen due to stroke, brain tumors, accidents, or brain infection. A brain injury which damages parts of the brain that deal with language can also bring on Aphasia. Aphasia can also be caused by dementia such as Alzheimer s disease. Aphasia is sometimes also a symptom of epilepsy or other neurological disorders.

It s more common in older adults, especially after a stroke. What happens in Aphasia is that the affected person is unable to understand or use words. He or she may also:

Have difficulty speaking and finding the "right" words to express themselves verbally
Have problems understanding conversation
Have problems reading and comprehending written words
Have problems writing words
Is unable to calculate or use numbers
Has a tendency to use gibberish words as a part of speech
There are various types of Aphasia, differing in certain important ways from each other.
Aphasia can also be mild or severe. With mild Aphasia, the patient is able to converse, though he may not be able to find the right word or may not understand complex conversations.
However, in severe Aphasia, a person may lose his ability to communicate completely which means he can t speak or understand any conversation and may also not be able to read or write.

Three things that aid Aphasia recovery are

Speech Therapy
Family Support
Persistence
Treatment for Aphasia depends on factors like:

Age
Cause of brain injury which causes Aphasia
Type of Aphasia
Position and size of the brain lesion causing Aphasia
If the Aphasia is due to a brain tumor, surgery to remove the tumor affecting the language centre can treat Aphasia.
For a person who s got Aphasia due to a stroke, sessions with a speech-language specialist are very effective. The therapist teaches the patient ways to communicate using stuff that doesn t involve speech.
He uses the following to help the patient communicate without words:

Props
Drawings and pictures
Teaching patient to speak slowly and be calm when talking.
Treatment techniques
The speech therapist uses these two main techniques to tackle Aphasia:

Substitute skill model: This uses a prop like a writing board to help with spoken language.
Direct treatment model: This approach uses specific exercises to help patients
Copy and recall therapy (CART): This approach uses repetition and recall of certain words during speech therapy.
Visual communication therapy (VIC): This involves the use of index cards to represent various components of speech.
In addition, Aphasia patients are also trained in the use of hand gestures to aid in communication as a part of  Visual Action Therapy (VAT) .

Aphasia - Factors That Put You At Risk!

Binge drinking is a problem that has been noticed nowadays in many teenagers and youngsters. Whether it is at an event or a party, drinking high doses of alcohol in one sitting is known as binge drinking. 

Binge Drinking in Women Is Different from Men 

Binge drinking for men is the consumption of more than five alcoholic beverages in one sitting. But the case is different for women. For women binge drinking is defined as a woman consuming more than four alcoholic beverages in a single sitting. Also, it has been found in a survey that almost 75% of the binge drinkers are college students. Among these, the ratio of men is much higher than women. 

What Leads to Binge Drinking? 

Lack of control: One of the most common reasons is, of course, the lack of control. When such a person comes in contact with alcohol, they tend to over drink because they have no control over their drinking. 
The weekend fun: Secondly, another reason is seen in the case of youngsters between the age of 18 years to 35 years. These are youngsters who have a tendency of meeting friends and going out on weekends after the week s toil. They know that after this weekend they will be able to enjoy their favorite bottle only in the next weekend. Hence, they binge drink. 
Results of Binge Drinking 

It becomes difficult to check how much alcohol will affect a person, because it depends on various factors, such as height, weight, age and also at times, alcohol tolerance of the person. But of course, there are some common results of binge drinking. Some of such results are: 

Unintended and unprotected sex leading to pregnancy or even STD in some cases 
Accidents that may lead to severe injuries and even death at times
Physical or mental assault of others that the person may regret later on. 
When Is Help Required? 

When the person has a habit of driving after drinking, neglecting family and doing harm to others as well, help is surely needed. Here, short 4-5 sessions with a therapist may help. A regular drinking habit is no doubt a reason to worry. But binge drinking is another reason that can lead to bigger problems and hence, needs to be examined closely too.

Does Your Friend/Relative Have Binge Drinking Problems?

Drug addiction is a major problem in today's world. The major part of these drug abuse victims are teenagers. There are several reasons may drive your teen kid to hard drugs which include peer pressure, neglect, curiosity or just for the sake of being cool. This could be a major concern for the parents whose children get addicted to drugs but an important thing to keep in mind is that the only person who can help your kid overcome addiction are the parents.

Here are a few measures that can help your kid overcome drug addiction:
1. In order to put your kids on the right path, the most important thing is to show them love. You should keep aside your anger, fear and grief and approach them. Tell them why you are scared or angry. Proper love and affection is required to bring your kids back to the normal track.

2. Try to find their strengths and weakness. Your child should be complemented for any good thing he or she does. You should observe them properly and try to perceive their current nature and mental state.

3. You should try to keep your calm and talk to them instead of scolding, shouting or threatening them. You must also listen to them carefully and try not to react in any way. Talk to them about your concerns and see whether they are cooperating with you.

4. Getting your kids involved in some activity, which will let them mix with a different group of peers will be a positive remedy. You have to make them feel good about themselves. Try to find ways so that your kids will get into some positive, productive activity.

5. Fixing an appointment with a psychiatrist who deals with drug abuse situations can also help you deal with the issue. You must explain to your kids that there is an obvious reason behind their addiction, and it must be solved for their own good.

6. You should also connect with the counselors at schools and colleges. They have seen many cases like your child s and know about the situation well. You can enroll your kids in a substance abuse program which is connected with his school.

7. You must tell your kids that what they are doing is risky and illegal and as parents, you have the right to help them overcome this in order to maintain good health, and that you do not want them to go to prison.

8. Find an expert therapist specializing in teen substance abuse and make your kids have weekly appointments with him. A good therapist knows the best ways to guide your kids to the right path.
Drug addiction in kids is a common syndrome these days. If your kid is into hard drugs, you need to do your best to save him and help him overcome the addiction.

How to Help Your Kids Overcome Addiction?

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