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• Music and memory: Study suggests significant new links

  The link between musical expertise and linguistic working memory has been well established in the literature. However, new research from the University of Texas at Arlington suggests that musicians may have additional memory advantages, including enhanced visual/pictorial memory and better long-term memory. In their study, lead author Heekyeong Park, assistant professor of psychology at UT Arlington, and graduate student James Schaeffer measured the electrical activity of neurons in the brains of both musicians and non-musicians using electroencephalography (EEG) technology, noting differences in frontal and parietal lobe responses. “Musically trained people are known to process linguistic materials a split second faster than those without training, and previous research also has shown musicians have advantages in working memory,” said Park in a recent statement. “What we wanted to know is whether there are differences between pictorial and verbal tasks and whether any advantages extend to long-term memory.” Study participants included 14 musicians, who had been playing classical music for 15 years or more, as well as 15 non-musicians. To test working memory, participants were shown both pictorial and verbal items and then asked to ...

• Does listening to classical music really make children smarter?

  Those of us who did some shopping for young children recently couldn’t help but notice the huge range of toys, games, and music targeted at parents hoping to boost their children’s intelligence—and perhaps give their toddlers a “jump-start” on the competition for preschool.  Among the most popular items are music CDs designed to trigger the “Mozart Effect,” the supposed improvement in intelligence that results from listening to classical music.  But does it really work? Are babies who listen to Mozart really any smarter?  In his book 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology, Emory University Professor Scott Lilienfeld and his coauthors take a closer look at the facts—and the misconceptions—about this phenomenon (Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010). According to Lilienfeld, the original scientific study upon which the theory of the “Mozart Effect” rests has very little to do with the runaway media hype that followed.  Some background: In 1993, the highly respected science journal Nature published an article by three University of California at Irvine researchers who reported that college students who listened to ten minutes of a Mozart piano ...

• A new resource to help you serve your patients more effectively

  

  Proper assessment—conducted with psychometrically strong, easy-to-use instruments designed to help you make critical decisions faster—enables you to develop effective treatment plans for your patients. It can also help mitigate the mental health impact of the pandemic, which has exacerbated symptoms in many areas, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD. PAR has developed a new resource that can help you filter through your assessment options and quickly choose the right products for your needs—tools that will help you make better, quicker decisions about what’s best for your patients’ mental health and wellbeing. Related article: Check out PAR’s Spanish assessment solutions page Quickly compare the benefits of recommended products in the areas of depression, anxiety, trauma, suicide, parenting, resilience, and executive function. You’ll see that many of our products are available for digital and/or remote use—so you can easily and safely test your clients when you’re not together in person. Plus, we’ve included listings for supplemental books that can help round out your knowledge in a particular construct area. Visit our NEW mental health resources page to discover more.

• TICS: Assess for cognitive impairment remotely

  

  The COVID-19 crisis has changed the world as we know it. On a professional level, social distancing and safer-at-home guidelines mean that many practitioners are now using the internet and other technologies to stay in touch with their patients, clients, and students. Although they can no longer come into the office, older patients with conditions causing cognitive impairment or dementia still need to be evaluated and monitored. Many of these patients may not be familiar or comfortable with video chatting or other common online tools. The Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) can help. In clinical and research use for more than 30 years, the TICS was the first measure developed specifically for remote cognitive assessment. It provides a quick and easy way for clinicians to screen patients and clients for cognitive impairment and has proven itself in hundreds of studies and clinical trials. It has also been translated into several foreign languages and is available for licensing. “The TICS is meant for remote assessment,” said test coauthor Jason Brandt, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Neurology at ...

• The State of Mental Health Among Mental Health Professionals

  

  May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health providers play a critical role in promoting awareness and working to improve the lives of others. Yet, compassion fatigue and burnout are very real issues for those in the field. For the next two weeks, the PAR blog will explore these issues within the mental health community and provide guidance on how those in the mental health field can prioritize self-care to protect their own mental health needs. Mental health providers with prolonged or cumulative exposure to compassion stress may be vulnerable to burnout if early steps to counteract excessive empathetic involvement are not taken. A major part of a mental health professional’s job is the ability to empathize with clients. Developing a successful therapeutic alliance leads to better outcomes and correlates with the capacity to identify, comprehend, and share an individual's feelings, thoughts, and experiences. However, prolonged exposure to distressing information can negatively affect a mental health professional and is a risk factor for secondary traumatic stress. Studies have shown that health professionals have moderate to high levels of burnout and secondary traumatic ...

• Helping others stay connected

  

  This week’s blog was contributed by Melissa Milanak, PhD, PAR’s clinical assessment advisor–national accounts. Melissa is a licensed clinical psychologist and internationally recognized academic. She has extensive clinical experience providing therapy and conducting assessments with a diverse array of patient populations.  It comes as no surprise we’ve seen a steady increase in mental and behavioral health concerns as our society continues to face challenges resulting from a global pandemic and ongoing social justice issues. This leaves many mental health providers questioning what they can do to positively impact those affected by this mental health crisis. Some patients and clients will have a clear presentation of symptoms and diagnosis. Many others may underreport, not realize there is any concern, or simply be on a slow decline, where small decreases in functioning go undetected over a prolonged period. This is compounded in those who have been isolated (whether they live alone or recently lost a companion), meaning they lack an accountability partner or someone to notice potentially harmful changes in mindset and behavior.   As these stressors persist, even the most resilient individuals are ...