Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting Showcases Strides in Exploring the Brain
More than 30,000 brain advocates from academia, industry and media converged on Washington, D.C. this week for the 44th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN).
Peaking on Monday, Nov. 17 at 31,065 attendees, the meeting continues through Nov. 19 and is widely considered to be the premier conference to showcase and discuss up-and-coming neuroscience research.
“The field of neuroscience is making great strides to understand the brain,” SfN President Carol Mason said in a statement. “Neuroscience 2014 showcases how far we’ve come, helps chart the way to the next discoveries, and reinforces how important it is to continue exploring the brain’s extraordinary mysteries.”
The five-day show also recognizes nearly 22 neuroscience awards, including the $15,000 Young Investigator Award, which was presented Monday to MIT’s Feng Zang, Ph.D., and UC Berkeley’s Diana Bautista, Ph.D.
Hot topics at the 2014 meeting include neuroscience and food, neuroscience funding in the face of brain initiatives, sleep, traumatic brain injury (TBI), treatments for spinal cord injury and the Alzheimer’s disease/beta amyloid/tau protein debate.
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Effective science communication: “It’s not about dumbing down,” said presentation panelist
Elaine Snell, CEO of the British Neuroscience Association Council, who also heads her own science, medicine and health communications company.
Instead, as Tiffany Lohwater from the AAAS suggested, focus on your audience, recognize your communication goals, develop your message, and find opportunities for exposure. Lohwater is director of meetings and public engagement at the AAAS Office of Public Programs.
Potential treatments for spinal cord injuries: A highlight from research presented by Duke’s Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D. included a brain-machine interface in the form of a “smart shirt” exoskeleton, which allows paralysis patients to dictate movements such as walking and kicking.
Nicolelis said that the system provides such a “rich sensory experience” that patients can sense specific surfaces, such as blades of grass or grains of sand.
Toxic tau’s role in neurodegeneration: Julia Gerson, from the University of Texas, Galveston, prompted a compelling question: is there a link between Alzheimer’s and TBI?
Gerson’s mouse study suggests that there is. “The spread of the same detrimental protein in brain injury and Alzheimer’s may cause symptoms of both disorders,” she said.
