News and Events – August 2008
CONFERENCES
Phil Bones was a presenter and co-chair of the ‘Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data V’ conference which was part of the SPIE: International Society for Optical Engineering Annual Meeting held in San Diego, California, August 11-14th. Following the conference, Phil and his son David travelled north to the High Sierras and climbed one of the higher peaks (Mt Abbot, 4100 m). The following papers were presented at the conference:
- Bones PJ, Maclaren JR (2008). Robust statistical extension to TRELLIS motion correction in MRI. Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data V, Proceedings of the SPIE, 7076.
- Wu B, Millane RP, Watts R, Bones PJ (2008). Exploiting image sparsity in parallel magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI). Image Reconstruction from Incomplete Data V, Proceedings of the SPIE, 7076.
John Dalrymple-Alford, Sebastian Doeltgen, Charlotte Graham, Marcus Heitger, Maggie-Lee Huckabee, Carrie Innes, Tracy Melzer, Daniel Myall, Saskia van Stockum, Richard Watts, Juliane Wilcke, and Sarah Wright attended the 26th International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research in Queenstown (23-27 August). The following papers were presented:
- Doeltgen SH, Huckabee M-L, Dalrymple-Alford JC (2008). Influence of muscle contraction on motor evoked potentials of the submental muscle group Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 2008, 26, abstract #10.4
- Graham CF, MacAskill MR, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Livingston L, Anderson TJ (2008). Predictive saccades and cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #3.2
- Heitger MH, Jones RD, Macleod AD, Snell D, Wilson I, Anderson TJ (2008). Eye movements – functional markers of incomplete recovery in postconcussion syndrome. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #9.5
- Innes CRH, Jones RD, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Severinsen J, Gray J (2008). Separate models for people with dementia or other brain disorders increase the accuracy of classifying on-road pass or fail based on sensory-motor and cognitive tests. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #4.26
- Innes CRH, Poudel GR, Watts R, Bones PJ, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Jones RD (2008). Investigation of lapses of responsiveness via simultaneous fMRI and EEG. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #5.4
- Melzer TR, Watts R, MacAskill MR, Graham CF, Livingston L, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Anderson TJ (2008). Limbic system structural integrity and global cognitive status in Parkinson’s disease: A DTI analysis. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #3.6
- Myall DJ, MacAskill MR, Anderson TJ, Jones RD (2008). Visuomotor adaptation after-effects in Parkinson’s disease. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #4.28
- Van Stockum ES, MacAskill MR, Anderson TJ (2008). Reflexive and voluntary saccades in Parkinson’s disease. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #3.4
- Watts R, Melzer TR, Spencer C, Warfield S, Woodward LJ (2008). Motion correction in magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging: Application to neonates. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #5.1
- Wilcke JC, O’Shea RP, Watts R (2008). Combined fMRI and DTI study of visual awareness in binocular rivalry. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #5.8
- Wright SL, MacAskill MR, Watts R, Livingston L, Deavoll B, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Anderson TJ (2008). Saccadic function in Alzheimer’s disease: An fMRI study. Proceedings of the International Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research, 26, abstract #4.29
Alison Gray, Petra Hoggarth, Kelly Hood, and Rob Hughes attended the New Zealand Psychological Society Annual Conference in Christchurch (29-31 August). The following papers were presented:
- Aitchison L, Hughes R ‘Some behavioural implications of exposure to benzylpiperazine (BZP) during different periods of postnatal development’.
- Anderson N, Hughes R ‘Subsequent behavioural effects of exposure to caffeine during adolescence’.
- Daly F, Hughes R, Woodward L ‘Developmental effects of exposure to methadone during gestation, lactation or both’.
- Hoggarth PA, Innes CRH, Dalrymple-Alford JC, Jones RD ‘Cognitive and sensory-motor performance cannot fully predict unsafe driving in healthy older drivers’.
- Hood KM, Woodward L, Champion, P ‘Social competence of children born very preterm and implications for school functioning’.
Richard Jones and Govinda Poudel attended the 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC ‘08) in Vancouver, Canada (20-24 August). The following papers were presented:
- Poudel GR, Jones RD, Innes CRH, Davidson PR, Watts R, Bones PJ, Signal TL (2008). Functional-MRI correlates of cued slow-eye-closure and task non-responsiveness during visuomotor tracking. Proceedings of 30th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2008), Vancouver, Canada, 30, 4122-4125.
- Heitger MH, Jones RD, Anderson TJ (2008). A new approach to predicting postconcussion syndrome after mild traumatic brain injury based upon eye movement function. Proceedings of 30th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2008), Vancouver, Canada, 30, 3570-3573.
- Myall DJ, MacAskill MR, Anderson TJ, Jones RD (2008). Submovements in visually-guided and memory-guided reaching tasks: changes in Parkinson’s disease. Proceedings of 30th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2008), Vancouver, Canada, 30, 1761-1764.
- Peiris MT, Jones RD, Davidson PR, Bones PJ (2008). Event-based detection of lapses of responsiveness. Proceedings of 30th Annual International Conference of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC 2008), Vancouver, Canada, 30, 4960-4963.
EVENTS
The Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory and Canterbury Medical Research Foundation hosted an open lecture at the Institute on 21st August by David Paydarfar (Professor of Neurology and Physiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School). The lecture was titled ‘Managing vulnerable neural oscillators: Squid evasion, infant apnoea, and safe swallowing. Professor Paydarfars’ research interests are devoted to understanding the neural control of autonomic functions. Specific areas of interest are the genesis of respiratory rhythm, the coordination of breathing and swallowing, and the maintenance of circulation during upright posture. The major goal is to understand how normal control mechanisms break down and lead to certain common disease states: central apnea, neurogenic aspiration, and neurally mediated syncope.
AWARDS
Rob Hughes received the New Zealand Psychological Society Hunter Award for “outstanding, internationally acclaimed research in psychology”. The Hunter Award was established in memory of Sir Thomas Hunter of Victoria University of Wellington (who established the first experimental psychology laboratory in New Zealand).
Petra Hoggarth won the Best Student Conference Paper prize at the New Zealand Psychological Society conference. The prize included $200 plus refund of the conference registration fee.
