Foot Health

Take 10 minutes and join me as I give an overview of the neurodevice marketplace and the trends that are driving the exceptional growth in this $3.4B sector. The Medtech Marketplace in 2007 webcast, sponsored by MX Magazine, will also have five other medtech analysts sharing their views on topics such as imaging, orthopedics, in vitro diagnostics, and cardiovascular devices. My talk is first in the line up and the webcast is free, just sign up here. Webcast goes from 11am - noon (Pacific) Wednesday, January 31st. Make sure to sign up a few minutes early.

Update: Follow this link to the archived webcast. (look for Access the Archive Link) You'll still need to fill out a registration form but if you are looking for an overview of the neurodevice sector it will be worth it.

Until very recently, there was a little known finding that if you have an amnesic person who struggles to remember the past, then they're probably not good at envisioning the future. But why is this?

The results of a new neuroimaging study conducted at the University College London show that the hippocampus, which has long been known to be a brain region intimately tied to memory, is also harnessed to construct possible futures. If the hippocampus is damaged, then one will have both a hard time remembering the past and envisioning the future.

According to Harvard's cognitive neuroscientist Donna Addis, this research could have interesting implications for aging. The hippocampus is one of the first brain regions to show signs of deterioration as we get older and her research suggests that the ability to envision the future experiences also declines as people age. So, maybe treatments for conditions like Age-Associated Memory Impairment might will not only improve our memory but also our future outlook.

Everyone can relate to improving their brain health, whether it is an elite team of executives looking to optimize their effectiveness, or an individual concerned about brain aging or a distinct problem. Recently, The Brain Resource Company launched a free, confidential, 40-minute cognitive brain test in partnership with the Alliance for Aging Research. The company is offering the test at no cost until May 14, 2007. I haven't taken it yet, but it might be an interesting way to obtain a baseline against which to monitor changes over time.

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies has announced the launch of The Center for Neurotechnology Studies (CNS) which intends on providing neutral, in-depth analysis of matters at the intersection of neuroscience and technology—neurotechnology—and public policy. The Center will anticipate ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) associated with emerging neurotechnology, and shepherd constructive discourse on these issues. It will provide a forum for reasoned consideration of these subjects both by experts and the public.

CNS will provide expert support to government agencies pursuing neurotechnology on the science itself as well as the ELSI-related topics, and develop policy options to address them. The Center will cultivate knowledge and inspire discussion on the implications of neurotechnology in legislative, administrative, regulative, judicial, academic, and entrepreneurial enterprises. As a result, it is expected that the Center will become a highly-sought partner by the research community for advice, partnership, and advocacy for the public and private funding of key neurotechnology research. CNS Interim Director, Potomac Institute President Dr. Dennis McBride, said, “It is more than exciting for Potomac to provide a leadership role for this rapidly expanding community. This technology will revolutionize life as we know it.”

This is a very important and welcome development for the neurotechnology community. As I've been writing for the past four years here on Brain Waves, the societal implications of neurotechnology are profound and it is critical that the public discourse related to the ethical, legal, and social issues should be dramatically expanded. The CNS should definitely help in this effort.

"What is this thing called love, which has been described as “a catastrophe – but a highly desirable catastrophe” and in the service of which humans have reached the heights and plumbed the depths of experience? Why is our judgment often blurred or suspended when we fall passionately in love? Why does it lead to euphoria and depression? What is its chemistry? Which areas of the brain become engaged when we fall in love and when we view our lovers, or when we make love? Why are voles and birds and humans sometimes monogamous and sometimes polygamous? Why does the world literature of love so often paint a gloomy picture - of adulterous lovers who seek an escape in its, and their own, annihilation - and what neurobiological lessons can we draw from that literature?"

Come and listen to leading neurobiologists from America and Europe discussing these issues and presenting their latest findings at the Sixth International Meeting on Neuroesthetics which will take place on Saturday, January 20, 2007 on the UC Berkeley campus. I'll see you there.

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