Nonverbal communication ā facial expressions, gestures, posture, and intonation (tone of voice) ā offers a rich source of information about a speaker’s intentions and moods. Recognizing and correctly interpreting these cues is important for social competence, but is challenging for people with autism and other developmental disorders that have deficits in nonverbal communication. Intonation and facial expressions represent the most prominent and biologically important nonverbal communication channels. These channels typically overlap in terms of the information they convey. While few studies have looked at the shared and unique brain mechanisms involved in these communication systems, some behavioural research suggests shared underlying mechanisms. Using magnetoencephalography, an imaging technique used to detect electro-magnetic and metabolic shifts occurring in the brain, Valery Sramko is studying both typically developing adults and those with autism spectrum disorder. Sramko is examining the mechanisms and brain areas shared by intonation and facial expression, which are deficient in people with autism, to shed light on nonverbal emotion processing. Her overall aim is to gain a better understanding of the processes and mechanisms involved in nonverbal communication, which could contribute to the development of potential interventions for people with autism and other developmental disorders.
Research Pillar: Clinical
Dopamine and Risky-Decision Making
Parkinsonās disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that arises when a substantial number of dopamine-producing neurons deteriorate. The loss of these cells results in a number of brain regions receiving less than the normal amount of dopamine (DA). In addition to the motor symptoms of the disease, many patients with Parkinsonās disease exhibit difficulties with cognitive tasks. Patients can take a variety of drug therapies that increase DA brain levels or directly stimulate DA receptors in order to alleviate motor and cognitive symptoms. However, recent studies have shown that a number of patients with Parkinsonās disease have developed pathological gambling, which appears to be related to the DA agonist drug therapy they are taking. The gambling symptoms appear after the induction of (or increase in) the dose the DA agonist medication and disappear when the medication is decreased or halted. Jennifer St. Onge is researching the link between pathological gambling and increased DA activity in the brain by studying how risk-based decision making is altered by manipulations of DA transmission using experimental animals. Her research will help clarify whether pathological gambling and risk taking behaviour observed in some patients with Parkinsonās disease is the result of DA agonist drug therapy. This study may facilitate closer monitoring of drug doses and the development of novel drugs that could treat motor symptoms of the disease without altering decision making.
Dynamic suppression of pathological brain oscillations in Parkinson's disease (PD) with virtual environments (VE)
Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating condition that affects millions of people worldwide, and is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder in Canada. Typical symptoms include tremor, slowness of movement, difficulty in walking, and rigidity. Drug treatments and surgery are available to improve symptoms, but these forms of therapy are not always effective and can have serious side effects. As these options arenāt appropriate for all Parkinsonās patients, alternative, non-invasive treatments are needed. Parkinsonās symptoms are caused by a lack of the chemical messenger dopamine. Dopamine is normally released by neurons in the substantia nigra, allowing communication with the basal ganglia, an area of the brain that is responsible for the planning and smooth execution of movement. The lack of dopamine is believed to result in abnormal rhythms in the motor control areas of the brain, impeding movement. Recent studies have shown that appropriate stimuli can suppress the abnormal brain rhythms responsible for blocking movement in people with Parkinsonās and help improve the way people with the disease move and walk. Giorgia Tropini is researching the association between visual stimuli and ongoing brain rhythms. Using virtual environment technology and electroencephalogram (EEG) measurements, Giorgia is developing specific, precisely timed visual images to disrupt inappropriate brain rhythms. Ultimately, she aims to contribute to the development of a wearable, non-surgical, non-pharmacological device to treat Parkinsonās symptoms. Findings from her research could also be applied to other diseases that involve abnormal brain rhythms, such as epilepsy and depression.
The heart as an immunologic organ: Cardiac myocytes in innate immunity
Itās well established that severe infection in critically ill patients can result in heart damage, but what causes this damage is unclear. One possibility is that heart muscle recognizes and responds to infectious pathogens and their products, triggering events within heart cells that ultimately lead to heart failure. Dr. John Boyd is researching the link between serious infection and cardiac dysfunction. The immune system uses Toll-like receptors to recognizes infectious products. Boyd aims to establish the role and function of Toll-like receptors in the heart, and what response occurs in heart muscle cells when incubated with infectious pathogens that are known to activate these receptors. Because Toll-like receptors also recognize and respond to tissue damage arising from ischemic heart disease (when there is a decrease in the blood supply to the heart caused by constriction or obstruction of the blood vessels) and heart transplant rejection, the research could have relevance beyond cardiac response to acute infection. Ultimately, Boyd aims to provide novel insights into the connection between the heart and immunity, which could lead to the development of new strategies to improve outcomes in diseases that involve inflammatory responses of the heart.
Topographical disorientation as a predictor of Alzheimer's Disease in patients affected by Mild Cognitive Impairment
While mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is common among elderly individuals, most continue to function moderately well in carrying out their usual activities. However, over the following three years after diagnoses of MCI, about 30 per cent of patients develop Alzheimer disease ā a neurodegenerative disorder that seriously impairs thinking and memory. Some studies suggest that analyzing cerebrospinal fluid or brain imaging may predict the risk of Alzheimer dementia in patients with MCI, but these techniques are costly and, in some cases, not routinely available. The earliest degeneration of brain tissue with Alzheimer disease occurs in the hippocampus, a region of the brain important for learning, memory and topographical orientation, that is our ability to orient within the environment Dr. Giuseppe Iaria is investigating whether a computerized virtual reality test assessing topographical orientation skills is able to predict the progression of Alzheimerās disease in patients diagnosed with MCI. If effective, this inexpensive test could be administered in any clinic to identify MCI patients at high risk for developing Alzheimer dementia. With early detection, it may be possible for medication to prevent or slow the progression of nerve cell degeneration because once the damage has occurred, it is generally irreversible.
Biomechanical energy harvesting
Electronic medical devices such as vital sign monitors, pacemakers and motorized prostheses are relied upon by people with disabilities, the elderly and others. However, all of these mobile devices are powered by batteries, which have limited energy storage, and add additional weight to the devices. Although substantial progress has been made in enhancing battery capacity, power requirements for the mobile devices are increasing faster than the improvements made in battery performance. Human power is an attractive energy source because of the ability for humans to convert food into mechanical power and the high mechanical power outputs attainable by humans. Human power is portable, environmentally friendly, and readily available for power-consuming applications that involve direct human use, such as prostheses. Qingguo Li is part of an SFU research team who has developed a biomechanical energy harvester (BEH) that converts mechanical energy extracted from human movement into electrical energy. Resembling a leg brace, the BEH works by acquiring the mechanical power produced by muscles at the knee joint when the user is walking. The technology is similar to regenerative braking in hybrid gas-electric automobiles; instead of dispersing mechanical energy as heat using conventional brakes, the energy is converted into electrical energy. Liās goal is to develop a family of energy harvesting devices that can be worn on the body, inserted into motorized prostheses or permanently implanted within the body.
Effects of Prenatal Psychotropic Medication Exposure on Critical Periods of Language Development
Psychotropic medications like benzodiazepines (tranquilizers used to control anxiety) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (antidepressants used to treat depression) are frequently prescribed during pregnancy to manage depression and anxiety, even though these drugs have not been approved for this purpose, and the impact on infant development is unclear. These drugs increase the activity of certain chemicals in the brain that inhibit nerve cell activity. Whitney Weikum is expanding on her earlier MSFHR-funded research on language development in infants. Now Weikum is studying the effects of prenatal exposure to psychotropic drugs on critical periods of infant language development. During the first years of life, infants rapidly and almost effortlessly acquire language. There appear to be a number of discrete periods critical for acquiring language information. At birth, infants have the ability to discriminate almost all the distinctive sounds from the worldās languages. Weikum is testing infantsā responses to different language sounds at 36 weeks gestation, as newborns, and during the first year to learn whether psychotropic drugs affect cognitive and language development. The results will be compared to women who experienced depression, but did not take medication, to determine the impact of depression alone on infantsā language development. The goal is to help women and physicians make informed decisions about whether to use psychotropic medications during pregnancy.
Independence of identity and expression? A look at facial processing in both healthy and patient populations
Recognizing facial expressions and identities plays a crucial role in daily life. People who have experienced damage to identity recognition regions of the brain due to stroke, trauma or other causes are unable to recognize the identity of faces, often including their own. People with damage to regions involved in expression recognition have difficulty interpreting expressions, which leads to social mistakes. Problems in expression recognition may have a role in autism and other social developmental disorders. Studies have suggested that specific brain regions are primarily involved in either facial identity recognition or facial expression recognition. However, recent studies, including research Christopher Fox has contributed to, suggest the two are not restricted to independent regions. Fox is designing a series of psychophysical tests to determine the extent of the overlap and using functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity in both healthy individuals and those who have experienced brain damage. Fox aims to determine whether an area of the brain previously thought of solely as an expression recognition region is also able to process facial identity. The research could lead to new therapies for people with facial recognition disorders. Fox was funded as a 2005 trainee award recipient for research on the role of the temporal lobes in vision and the process of visual perception.
Neuropsychological predictors of medication adherence and employment status following kidney transplantation
For her Masterās research, supported by a 2005 MSFHR Trainee Award, Shannon Gelb researched whether cognitive difficulties (brain functions such as memory and reasoning) exist following a kidney transplant. The research revealed that adult recipients of kidney transplants tend to perform worse than healthy individuals without transplants in tests of verbal memory (the ability to recall verbal information after a delay period) and executive functioning (activities such as multi-tasking and problem-solving). However, the impact of these results on daily life is unclear. Building on this research, Gelb is examining the relationship between cognition and two functional outcomes for kidney transplant recipients: adhering to prescribed medications and maintaining employment. Not taking medication properly, which is associated with increased risk of the body rejecting the transplanted kidney, is a significant problem among kidney transplant recipients. Employment rates among kidney transplant recipients are also poor ā 59 to 83 per cent of kidney transplant recipients never return to work following kidney transplantation. The research may help clarify the potential need for increased education and patient support following kidney transplantation.
The effectiveness of a supplementary inpatient exercise program on upper limb function in individuals with stroke
After a stroke, 80 per cent of people have long term difficulty using the arm and hand on one side of their body. This can lead to a loss of independence and a decrease in quality of life. Most rehabilitation of the arm and hand after a stroke takes place in hospital; however, while recent research indicates that approximately one hour a day of arm therapy is needed to improve the armās ability to be useful in daily activities, the time currently spent on arm-specific treatment is only 20 to 30 minutes. Jocelyn Harris is studying the implementation of an in-patient exercise homework program that increases the amount of arm therapy a patient performs in hospital. Taught by a therapist, the homework exercises are done for one hour a day, five days a week, for four weeks. Before starting the program and at the conclusion of the four weeks, patients participate in tests to measure hand strength, arm and hand movement, and the ability of the arm and hand to participate in day-to-day activities. This study will determine if increasing the amount of arm therapy time increases the ability to use the arm among stroke patients. An increase in ability can ultimately contribute to improved independence, continued community living, better health and enhanced life satisfaction among people who have had a stroke.