The NCAA’s effort to improve understanding of and response to concussions in all sports continues, highlighted by the scheduling of a summit that will seek a consensus on best practices for medically managing such injuries.

By Michael C. Purdy

Clinicians may be able to better predict the effects of strokes and other brain injuries by adapting a scanning approach originally developed for study of brain organization, neurologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.

The technique, known as resting-state functional connectivity (FC), reveals the health of brain networks that let multiple parts of the brain collaborate. Previous studies have shown that damage to these networks helps explain why damage to one brain region can cause problems in abilities controlled by another brain region.

Now, for the first time, scientists have linked differences in the nature of the harm done to brain networks to changes in the impairment experienced by patients.
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Hello Everyone,

On behalf of the Alberta Brain Injury Conference Steering Committee, I would like to extend an invitation to submit an abstract(s) for the ABIC 2011 conference on brain injury, to be held on March 17th to 19th in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Once again the conference will offer three streams with an overall unique theme of Building Links & Breaking Chains – Tools for the Future. This theme has been developed as a basis for the conference as it recognizes the need to identify those things which keep or hold us back from moving forward, and the links we need to build in order to continue to grow and prosper as individuals in our home lives, work lives and personal lives whether we be survivors, caregivers, family members or service groups and like minded professionals in the brain injury community.

We are looking for dynamic, current, passionate individuals that will bring innovative and sustainable solutions and tools to the conference with a relevant focus to attendees in one of these 3 streams; Service Providers, Individuals, and Research Findings.

The Deadline for submissions is Tuesday June 1, 2010. We look forward with anticipation to reviewing your submissions.

Find out more about the Alberta Brain Injury Conference
Get more information about Alberta Brain Injury Conference Abstract Submission Information.

Warm regards to all,

Meloni Lyon R.N
President
Brain Injury Association of Alberta
2011 ABIC Steering Committee Chair

Deadline for submissions: Tuesday June 1, 2010
Mail Submissions to:
Alberta Brain Injury Conference 2011
c/o Brain Injury Association of Alberta
Attention: Arlana Tanner, Executive Director
4916 – 50 Street, Red Deer, AB T4N 1X7
CANADA
Tel: (403) 309-0866
Email Submission: arlana@biaa.ca
Faxed Submission: (403) 342-3880
Telephone Inquiries: Arlana Tanner, (403) 309-0866
Toll Free (in Alberta) 1-888-533-5355

Dear Friends:

If you are caring for a family member with a disability, then you should be taking advantage of the RDSP – the Registered Disability Savings Plan.

This new plan was designed to offer a way to provide long-term private funding to people with disabilities to and help support families. It was initially conceived by Canadian parents of special needs children who wanted to be able to put money aside for their children’s adult years.

Join us for a free tele-session to learn more about the RDSP.

You can also read and download the RDSP_Factsheet for more information about the RDSP.

The Care-ring Voice team

Please find two links below to excellent publications put out by the Society for Neuroscience (US). Some may find the core concepts document particularly interesting – the content has been correlated to the US National Science Educations Standards and serves as a tool for educators teaching grades K-12.

Brain Facts
Core Concepts

The Brain Injury Association of Canada – BIAC is extremely disappointed with the negative/contradictory messages on Health Canada’s online photo gallery promoting “healthy lifestyles.” Many of the photographs contravene not only the department’s advice to parents and other caregivers, but that of safety advocates and medical practitioners as well, to keep their children safe. The Brain Injury Association of Canada questions whether the public health and safety of Canadians is or is not high on the agenda of the government.

We encourage the Health Canada to immediately review their photo gallery and remove immediately all pictures where helmets are not worn for those activities where they are required. As well, BIAC strongly urges an immediate review of all photos with the appropriate safety advocates to ensure that all photos meet the highest safety standards that are expected by all Canadians at work and at play.

Brain Injury Association of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Health Canada web gallery contravenes advice
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service March 26, 2010

A new motto for Health Canada’s safety tips for sporting activities could be, “Do as we say, not as we show.”

The department’s online photo gallery is full of images for the media and other organizations to reprint to promote “healthy lifestyles.” The only glitch is that many of the photographs, available at no cost, contravene Health Canada’s advice to parents on how to keep their kids safe.
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Wipeout
To see why watch these ‘Wipeout’ trailers!