It is an honor to participate in the #Kensington#RedwoodCity Open House for #Caregivers. The event will take place on May 2, and if you are in the neighborhood, please consider coming. My #memoir -- Finding the Right Words -- which I wrote with #UCSF#neurologist Dr. Bruce Miller, will be the departure point for the discussion, which will lay the groundwork for a supportive conversation about #caregiving, #grief, #love, and #dementia.
Since word-finding (and losing words) is front of mind for many people, I would like to draw your attention to the #memoir I wrote with #UCSF#neurologist, Dr. Bruce Miller. It's called Finding The Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain, and it is about my father's #early-onset #Alzheimer's. #Dr.Miller explains the #neurology behind the manifestations of the #disease that I describe. Loss of words was one of my father's first symptoms.
"We do know that there are harmful substances in cannabis smoke that are known to cause damage, so I would be very concerned about the health effects of smoking or vaping cannabis."
Last night #UCSF was the scene of a joyous celebration in honor of #Dr.BruceMiller's parents, Milton and Harriet Miller. #Music, #art, #poetry, and #science -- especially #neurology -- filled the halls. And lots and lots of love. So honored to be there and to have the #memoir I wrote with Bruce be one of the gifts given to the people who came.
#LewyBodyDementia affects over 1 million people in the US. Today is the first #WorldLewyBodyDay. Here is a link to the #UCSF#MAC (Memory and Aging Center) page that provides a brief explanation of this #disease.
Below is an image, drawn by Caroline Prioleau, from my #memoir, written with #Dr.BruceMiller, showing the different #brain disorders that fall under the category of #dementia, including #LewyBodyDementia.
Since language acquisition and fluency is on my #brain (all of the videos of #Trump's attempts at speech are firing lots of my own cylinders!), here is another image of the brain from #FindingTheRightWords. Thank you to the amazing #CarolinePrioleau of #UCSF for this beautiful and helpful drawing.
Although I am not a neurologist, I think a lot about the #variants of #PrimaryProgressiveAphasia. I wrote a #memoir about my father's #early-onset #Alzheimer's with #neurologist, #Dr.BruceMiller of #UCSF's #MemoryAndAgingCenter. It explains where in the #brain the initial assault happens and helps us understand why people can't find the right words and/or garble them and/or repeat them. After many years, I learned that my father had the #logopenic variant.
@StevenvdV82. For anyone reading this thread, perhaps this #UCSF information about #ALS (and statistical overlap with #FTD) is helpful. According to the #MAC (Memory and Aging Center), "While estimates vary, it is now believed that approximately 20% of ALS patients also have the signs and symptoms of frontotemporal dementia." https://memory.ucsf.edu/dementia/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis
#JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress sale ends on 12.8. W/discount code of HHOL23, you get 40% off all books & w/purchases over $50, shipping is free. Please consider supporting this wonderful #universitypress (& others!) & if you are looking for a book that clearly explains the #neurology behind #dementia please consider purchasing the #memoir I wrote w/the amazing #Dr.BruceMiller of #UCSF. Here's a link if you want to take a look.
Very proud to have contributed to this new piece advocating the promotion of agency and #HumanCenteredDesign in speech #BCI research. Recommendations for promoting user agency in the design of speech neuroprostheses, with Narayan Sankaran, David Moses, & Eddie Chang. #neuroethics#UCBerkeley#UCSF
Last month, I had the honor of speaking at Hawai'i's Behavioral Health #ECHO event. Here is a link to our discussion of the memoir I wrote with #UCSF#neurologist, Dr. Bruce Miller, #Finding the Right Words. We talked about #caregiving, #grief, the power of precision #diagnosis, and the value of #narrativemedicine.