Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Wai Kwong Tang
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Keynote: Structural and functional MRI correlates of Poststroke Depression
Time : 09:35-10:15
Biography:
Professor WK Tang was appointed as professor in the Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2011. His main research areas are Addictions and Neuropsychiatry in Stroke. Professor Tang has published over 100 papers in renowned journals, and has also contributed to the peer review of 40 journals. He has secured over 20 major competitive research grants. He has served the editorial boards of five scientific journals. He was also a recipient of the Young Researcher Award in 2007, awarded by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Abstract:
Depression is common following an acute stroke. Poststroke Depression (PSD) have notable impacts on the function recovery and quality of life of stroke survivors. Incidence decreased across time after stroke, but prevalence of PSD tend to be stable. Many studies have explored the association between lesion location and the incidence of PSD. For example, lesions in frontal lobe, basal ganglia and deep white matter have been related with PSD. Furthermore, cerebral microbleeds and functional changes in brain networks have also been implicated in the development of PSD. In this presentation, evidences of such association between the above structural and functional brain changes and PSD will be reviewed.
Keynote Forum
Fu-Zen Shaw
National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
Keynote: Neurofeedback training of frontoparietal alpha rhythm enhances episodic memory
Time : 10:15-10:55
Biography:
Fu-Zen Shaw has interested in establishment of animal models of epilepsy and fibromyalgia and also provides valuable non-pharmacological interventions for ameliorating seizures through closed-loop deep brain stimulation or for enhancing wellbeing of healthy people and patients with insomnia or mild cognitive impairment through self-training of brain rhythms. Recently, he develops a neurofeedback platform to train alpha rhythm with a sham-controlled group to validate controllability, specificity and independence of the neurofeedback training. Dr. Shaw also provides convinced evidence about trained alpha rhythm on enhancement of both working memory and semantic episodic memory. This study extends our understanding on effect of trained frontoparietal alpha rhythm on episodic memory of object recognition. The global effect of trained alpha rhythm may create potential insight on boosting human wellbeing.
Abstract:
Neurofeedback training (NFT) of brain rhythm is an operant conditioning paradigm through an video or audio interface and has been widely used in clinic. Episodic memory is a prerequisite for successful life functioning. This study aims to explore trainability of alpha NFT with a sham-controlled experimental design and effect of alpha NFT on episodic memory. Participants were randomly assigned into a control group receiving feedback of 4-Hz amplitude randomly selected from 7-20-Hz or an Alpha group receiving feedback of 8-12-Hz amplitude. The NFT contained 12 sessions and each session consisted of six 6-min blocks. Picture recognition task with identifying exact shape and size of objects was used to assess episodic memory. Topographic distribution of trained alpha rhythm was categorized through the whole-head EEG recording. The Alpha group exhibited a linear increase in amplitude and duration of alpha rhythm throughout the NFT exclusively. The Alpha group exhibited significantly higher amplitude and longer total duration of alpha rhythm compared with those of the control group. Accuracy of the picture recognition task in the Alpha group was significantly improved after NFT compared with that of the control group. In particular, participants with increased alpha rhythm which primarily distributed in bilateral frontoparietal region exhibited significantly linear trend between alpha duration and accuracy of the picture recognition task. The evoked alpha rhythm in the occipital region seemed to be no effect on accuracy of the picture recognition task. The present study provides additional evidence on the trainability of alpha rhythm through NFT and also identifies functional localization of alpha rhythm in the frontoparietal region on enhancement of episodic memory. Our results suggest a non-pharmacological intervention on memory enhancement throughout a NFT of alpha rhythm.
Keynote Forum
Kah Leong Lim
National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore
Keynote: Neuroprotective and Neurorestorative Strategies for Parkinson’s disease
Time : 11:15-11:55
Biography:
Kah-Leong Lim obtained his Ph.D. from the Singapore Institute of Molecular & Cell Biology in 1999. Thereafter, he did his postdoctoral training at the Department of Pathology in Harvard Medical School (2000-2001), and subsequently at the Department of Neurology in Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2001-2002), where he worked on the topic of Parkinson’s disease with Professor Ted Dawson. Dr. Lim is currently the Deputy Director of Research at the National Neuroscience Institute of Singapore and Director of Basic and Translational Research in the Singhealth Duke-NUS Neuroscience Academic Clinical Program. He is a member of the National Grant Review Panel (NMRC) and a regular reviewer of international grants including applications from the Welcome Trust and Medical Research Council (UK). Dr. Lim is an editor for PLoS One and Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience and a guest editor for PLoS Genetics. His research focuses on therapeutic development for Parkinson’s disease.
Abstract:
Parkinson disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disease affecting millions of predominantly elderly individuals worldwide. Despite intensive efforts devoted to drug discovery, the disease remains incurable. Compounding this problem is the current lack of a truly representative mammalian model of PD. Interestingly; the Drosophila has emerged as a good system to model the salient features of the disease, including dopaminergic (DA) neurodegeneration and associated locomotion defects. Taking advantage of this and also the utility of the Drosophila as a tool for drug discovery, we have uncovered several neuroprotective compounds and associated targets. These include AMP Kinase (AMPK) activators that are relevant in human PD cases. Our results support the use of Drosophila PD model as an intermediate in vivo host for phenotype-based drug screening. Because PD involves the degeneration of neurons in a rather circumscribed region in the brain, neurorestorative therapy via cell replacement represents another strategy to treat the disease. Here, we have exploited the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology to derive transgene integration- and feeder-free iPS from cells lining the human umbilical cord, an immunoprivileged organ that mediates interactions across the feto-maternal interface. Collectively designated as CLiPS (Cord Lining-derived iPS), we demonstrated that CLiPS-derived DA neuronal precursors transplanted into an immunocompetent 6-hydroxydopamine mouse model of PD not only survived but also differentiated into mature DA neurons in the absence of pharmacological immunosuppression. Further, the engrafted mice showed functional motor recovery and restoration of dopamine level (illuminated via PET imaging). These results position CLiPS as a promising source of donor cells for allogeneic cell replacement therapy for PD (Supported by NMRC-TCR).