News and Events – March 2010
PUBLICATIONS
Poudel GR, Jones RD, Innes CRH, Davidson P, Watts R, and Bones PJ (in press). Measurement of BOLD Changes Due to Cued Eye-closure and Stopping during a Continuous Visuomotor Task via Model-based and Model-free Approaches. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.
Poudel GR, Jones RD, Innes CRH, Bones PJ, Watts R (in press). Changes in BOLD activity during behavioural microsleeps [Abstract]. New Zealand Medical Journal.
Jones RD, Poudel GR, Innes CRH and Bones PJ (2010). Lapses of responsiveness: Their characteristics, detection, and underlying mechanisms [Abstract]. NeuroMath COST Action BM0601: Neurodynamic insight into functional connectivity, cognition, and consciousness. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.05.00008
CONFERENCES
Govinda Poudel presented at the Health Research Society of Canterbury meeting on 26th March. Govinda presented the following paper:
Poudel GR, Jones RD, Innes CRH, Bones PJ, Watts R. ‘Changes in BOLD activity during behavioural microsleeps’.
Richard Jones was an invited speaker at the Workshop on ‘Neurodynamic Insight into Functional Connectivity, Cognition and Consciousness’, in Dubrovnik, 27-28th March 2010, Croatia. Richard presented the following paper:
Jones RD, Poudel GR, Innes CRH. ‘Lapses of responsiveness: Their characteristics, detection, and underlying mechanisms’.
Richard Jones was an invited speaker at the Senior Drivers Workshop, Wellington, 1st March 2010. Richard’s presentation was titled ‘Christchurch Driving Research Programme’.
Richard Jones presented an invited seminar on ‘Lapses of responsiveness: Their characteristics, detection, and underlying mechanisms’ at the Santa Lucia Foundation – Scientific Institute for Hospitalisation and Treatment (National Hospital for Neuromotor Rehabilitation), Rome, Italy, 26 March 2010.
EVENTS
Prof. Shu Leong Ho, Professor & Division Chief from the Neurology Department at the University of Hong Kong gave a talk about neuroprotection in Parkinson’s Disease to the Discussion Group on 24th February.
Professor Don Stein is an Erskine visiting fellow at the Psychology Dept at the University of Canterbury. Professor Stein presented at Discussion Group in March. He also gave a public lecture ‘Repairing damaged brains: progesterone – a safe treatment hidden in plain sight’ on 18th March at the Christchurch Art Gallery as part of the Neurological Foundation’s national Brain Awareness Week. These talks summarised his 27 year journey towards a current, multi-centre US$28 million clinical trial to minimise the effects of acute brain injury. It seems that sex steroids, especially progesterone, could be affective for both men and women. This hormone may also hold promise in many other conditions associated with brain impairment.
GRANTS
Richard Jones was successful in obtaining $5000 from the Royal Society of NZ (International Science & Technology Linkages Fund) to put toward travel expenses involved in participation in the EU COST Action BM0601 (NeuroMath) workshop.
PEOPLE AT VDVI
Sina Rüeger is visiting us for three months from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences. She is completing a Masters’ degree in Engineering with a focus on statistics. Her project aims to test improved ways to analyse MRI arterial spin labeling data.
