Neuroscience 2014 Press Program Features Latest Developments in Brain Science and Health
WASHINGTON, DC — Scientists will unveil recent discoveries about the brain and related disorders at Neuroscience 2014 in Washington, DC, on November 15–19. Findings include advances in the search for treatments for diseases and disorders of the brain; new understandings of how life experiences and social interactions influence brain health and wellness; and novel insights into how the brain functions and develops.
Neuroscience 2014 is the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. Credentialed reporters have access to top scientists, embargoed press materials, and special events, providing a rich assortment of news and feature possibilities.
Credentialed media receive complimentary registration and access to a working press room and press conferences held Sunday, November 16, through Tuesday, November 18. Live streaming of press conferences is available for offsite reporters. Media may register for Neuroscience 2014 at www.sfn.org/media2014.
Press conference topics include:
Advancing Brain Science Through Innovative Technologies
Major research projects around the globe such as the BRAIN Initiative seek to improve understanding of the brain through the development of new technologies. Researchers demonstrate how implementing new methods and tools — such as improved techniques for imaging the connections between and communication among brain cells as well as nanoparticle therapies — can advance the field and lead to novel discoveries.
Legal Drugs of Abuse: The Science Behind Addiction
Some of the most commonly abused drugs are the legal ones: alcohol, nicotine, and, in some places, marijuana. Understanding the neurobiological components involved in addiction to these drugs can help pave the way for new treatments. New studies suggest that scent conditioning during sleep may help reduce smoking and that stimulating a certain part of the brain may inhibit alcohol seeking.
Unhealthy Diet, Unhealthy Mind
To what extent does an unhealthy diet lead to an unhealthy mind? Research sheds new light on how your sweet tooth may be blamed on your mother’s diet and how your diet may affect your ability to respond to stress. Scientists also explore how obesity may place people at an increased risk for developing memory problems and how a calorie-restricted diet protects the brain.
The Importance of Sleep
Sleep plays a vital part in brain health, with far-reaching effects on memory and learning. Recent findings study sleep’s role in memory formation and storage, including how disruption of sleep can be detrimental to these functions. Researchers also suggest a possible therapy for sleep disturbances after a traumatic brain injury and examine how sleep may help improve control of brain-machine prosthetics.
Potential Treatments for Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord damage often results in severe, life-altering limitations on an individual’s movement abilities. However, new potential treatments — from stem cells to brain-machine interface — aim to help recover normal breathing patterns and regain mobility through a wirelessly navigated wheelchair or robotic exoskeleton.
Advances Through Stem Cell Research
How do we limit the devastating effects of the more than 1,000 neurological and neurodegenerative diseases that affect billions of people worldwide? Advances in stem cell research are bringing us closer to understanding, finding treatments for, and stopping the progression of, debilitating degenerative conditions including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Machado-Joseph, and Huntington’s diseases.
From One Sense to Another: Crossing Sensory Modalities
Our senses form our perception of the world around us, but new research may change our understanding of how the brain interprets those sensory signals. Recent findings demonstrate how our senses of touch, vision, and hearing may intersect and how they may be involved in communicating emotional information.
The Developing Brain
How big a role do experiences during youth play in brain health? Do your mother’s experiences while pregnant affect your brain? Researchers show that factors such as stress on expectant mothers, trauma during childhood, and the bonds between children and their caregivers may have lasting effects on a person’s mental health.
Detecting, Understanding, and Preventing Neuroinflammation
Inflammation in the central nervous system occurs when our brains are exposed to injury, disease, poor diet, and infection. Examining neuroinflammation may help explain why some people are predisposed to psychiatric diseases, obesity, and chronic fatigue, and highlight ways to monitor treatment and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Exploring Toxic Tau’s Role in Neurodegeneration
Tau, a common brain protein, has long been associated with the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. New findings explore how the toxic form of tau spreads in the brain and how reversing the changes induced by toxic tau may improve cognition.
Media are required to register for credentials at www.sfn.org/media2014 in order to access press conferences, embargoed media material, and information about events. View SfN’s credentialing policies.
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is an organization of nearly 40,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system. More information about the brain can be found at BrainFacts.org, a public information initiative of The Kavli Foundation, the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, and SfN.
