2. Neuroscience Workshop
Planning & Preparation
Publication Outline
What I Learned/ New skills acquired
Suggestions/ Recommendations
Outline
3. OBJECTIVE: To review and develop a strategy for
research on the effects of sleep and sleep disturbance
as it relates to mood and emotional stress responses
in cognitive performance
Communication with speakers and vendors
Research and read articles written by guest speakers
Design workshop handouts
Neuroscience Workshop
Planning & Preparation
4. Articles by Speakers Design Logo & Workshop Handouts
Logo design
Map out the brain with respect to the workshop
3 colors = 3 sections of speakers
Dr. Tom Neylan
Cortical Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Glutamate in
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Their Relationships to Self-
Reported Sleep Quality
Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) & Parieto Occipital Cortez
(PCC)
Neuroscience Workshop
Planning & Preparation
5. Neuroscience Workshop
Workshop
Help and support workshop
Learn about sleep science and
how sleep effects performance
Publication Outline
Review recording of speaker’s
presentation
Outline & answer key
questions and possible
research approaches
6. KEY QUESTIONS:
1. Is sleep a causal factor in dysfunction? If so, under
what conditions
2. In what situations/conditions does sleep facilitate
dysfunction, and would normalization of sleep result in
symptom amelioration
3. In what circumstances is sleep disruption a RESULT of
dysfunction in another system, and to what extent does
it impact biological function when it acts in this manner?
Neuroscience Workshop
Publication Outline
7. Dr. Andrew Krystal
Q. Is insomnia causative of depression or vise versa?
A. If eliminate insomnia, does depression improve?
If yes, then insomnia is causative of depression
If no, then insomnia is not causative of depression
Conducted study to test this. Study included 2 groups of subjects.
KQ#2: In what situations/conditions does sleep
facilitated dysfunction, and would normalization of
sleep result in symptom amelioration?
CBT Group SHAM/ Control Group
Better sleep than SHAM
No significant improvement in depression
outcome
Depression mediated by sleep
“Indirect Mediation”
Not in case of SHAM
8. POSSIBLE RESEARCH APPROACHES:
1. How could this be studied so that one could determine the
answer under multiple different circumstances (e.g.,
comparable methods and regions of interest)?
2. What are the confounds and how could/should they be
controlled?
3. What tools can be employed to investigate the importance
of sleep “in the field”?
4. What metrics of sleep would be most useful for integrating
sleep to other physiological systems (e.g., brain metabolic
activity, HPA axis function)?
Neuroscience Workshop
Publication Outline
9. Dr. Linda Toth
Must consider Environmental Determinates
Dr. Rosalind Picard
Older studies missed a lot of data b/c measure only 1 wrist and
not both
RA#1: How could this be studied so that one could determine
the answer under multiple different circumstances (e.g.,
comparable methods and regions of interest)?
10. Dr. Thomas Neylan
Q. How good is polysomnography?
A. For research purposes, Not great
Its sensitivity and specificity was disappointing
Is good for global impression of total time of sleep
RA#3: What tools can be employed to
investigate the importance of sleep “in the
field”?
11. Neuroscience/ Sleep
The mysteries of sleep
The difficulties of measuring sleep for data collection
The technology used to measure sleep
The challenges and roadblocks of new technologies
What I Learned/ New skills acquired
12. Meet-ups with faculty and staff
Good organization
Real assignments
Suggestions/ Recommendations
Editor's Notes
Research and read articles --- to learn … Sleep science and how it relates to performance
While I was reading Dr. Neylan article, I was taking notes. These notes were organized interestingly and this was where I got the idea to first design a logo and secondly, the design of the logo itself. My logo design goal was to map out the brain with respect to the workshop. The logo would include a brain with 3 colors to represent the 3 sections the workshop was divided into.
First, the 3 sections the workshops was divided into were:
Sleep and Health Interactions
Sleep and Performance
Sleep and Performance Monitoring Technologies
So, 3 colors would be assigned to the 3 diff. workshop sections.
And certain parts of the brain would have one of these 3 colors, to indicate which part of the brain relates to which one of the 3 topic sections.
For example, Dr. Neylan talked specifically about the Anterior cingulate cortex and Parieto occipital cortex in his articles and b/c Dr. Neylan was in the 1st section, which lets say is the color blue, the ACC and PCC would be colors blue.
This design would also be a great conversation sparker among the speakers during break times b/c It would help remind speakers which section each speaker spoke in
However, after reading the articles written by the other guests speakers
I quickly found out that some speakers’s research encompassed all parts of the brain and not specific sections, while other speakers didn’t even reference any parts of the brain
This led me to rethink the logo design, so I stayed with the 3 colors to represent the 3 sections of the workshop and instead disperse the colors randomly around the brain
The dispersion of the three colors are to represent the integrated system that ties the three sections of the workshop and shows how understanding all three sections and how they work with one another is the key to understanding the science of the brain and how it relates to performance
(((Map out on the brain and see which area of the brain relates and effects to each one of three sections that divided the workshop
Three different colors would be assign to the 3 sections of the workshop
And the logo would showcase the areas of the brain that related to each three section
By highlighting the brain with the three colors that represents the 3 sections, to show where each section was prevelent in the brain )))
Using recorded speaker’s presentations
Dr. Andrew Krystal’s presentation had a good approach to this question
Dr. Krystal’s research question was “Q. _____________
His approach to answering this was to ask the question “ if…
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a drug used to treat insomnia
But improvement in depression were mediated to significant degree by improvement in sleep --- Indirect Mediation
But keep in mind that the Study is still in process therefore conclusion can not yet be stated**
Must take into consideration environmental determinates
In her study she talked about how diff. cage color, bedding, and even exposure to male/female had an effect on the rats she were studying
So she raises awareness to the fact that we Don’t know how rat/people will react to environment or to changes in environment
Older studies missed a lot of data b/c measured only 1 wrist & not both
dr. rosalind found in her studies that those who feel more anxious have a higher right EDA than left
These are important factors to consider when designing an experiment
Dr. Neylan brought up a good point that helps answer this question
Polysomnography is the golden standard and is FDA required
Polysomnography records brain waves, oxygen level in your blood, heart rate and breathing.
Sensitivity is when there is a known yes, how accurate is it in detecting known yes
Specificity is when there is a known no, how accurate is it in detecting known no
Dr. Neylan raises the questions of whether the technology we have today is adequate for the data researchers want to collect.
The challenges and roadblocks of new technologies for measuring sleep
such as, security, scalability, interoperability, regulation, etc.
I really enjoyed learning about Dr. Lo’s research. His research is really interesting, and for us to meet the person directly behind the works and to be able to ask him questions directly was a first hand insight to this cutting edge research.
I think that more meet-ups like this with other faculty and staff around the office would be beneficial, as interns would learn more about the company and learn what others are working on within the company.
I liked the organization of the internship. The outline and meeting at the beg. Of the internship was very helpful for me to understand my responsibilities. And the meetings we had throughout the internship were a good way to talk about our tasks and report back to you.
The tasks I was given were very real.
Especially with the organization of the workshop.
It was an awesome experience to see the end results of what I did.
With that I wanted to thank you for a great internship that has taught me more so much about neuroscience, organizing and planning a workshop, reviewing and outlining a report, and during this process I have learned more about myself.
Thank you!
