vibrantBrains
The 2008 vibrantBrains Science Salon Series
We invite you to join our Science Salon Series, featuring renowned professionals speaking on subjects related to the brain and brain health. The Salon Series is intended to be interactive, so featured speakers will leave plenty of time for questions and conversation.
All talks will be at vibrantBrains, 3235 Sacramento Street, in San Francisco.
There is no charge for the Science Salon Series and it is open to the public. Seating is limited, however so please be sure to call ahead to reserve your space, our phone number is 415.775.1138. Preferential seating will be given to vibrantBrains members.
May 13th, 7pm: Sue Halpern
CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I FORGOT: The Good News From The Front Lines of Memory Research
Sue Halpern’s new book, CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT I FORGOT: The Good News From The Front Lines of Memory Research addresses concerns that affects us all: eighty-three percent of Americans are worried about not being able to remember each others’ names. Sixty percent worry about our tendency to misplace our car keys. Fifty-seven percent are disturbed when they can’t recall phone numbers a few minutes after hearing them. And almost everyone is worried that each new slip of memory means Alzheimer’s in the future.
The simple statistical fact is, though, that most of us will not get Alzheimer’s disease. Even so, memory problems are as common after thirty-five as bad knees and graying hair. Since this is not likely due to disease, then why isn’t our memory as sharp as it used to be? What about all those things we’ve been told to do, like crosswords and brushing our teeth with our left hand? Do they really work, and if they do, why do they work? Are they just something to do before the inevitable overtakes us?
SUE HALPERN has been hailed as “an uncommonly gifted and compassionate writer.” (LA Times) She is a frequent contributor to such publications as the New Yorker, The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Audubon and Good Housekeeping. She received a doctorate from Oxford University in 1985 and she taught Medical Ethics at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is the author of two previous books of non-fiction, Migrations to Solitude, a New York Times notable book of the year, and Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly, which is soon to be released as a feature-length documentary. She has also published two novels. A former Rhodes Scholar and Guggenheim fellow, Halpern is currently a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College. A resident of Ripton, Vermont, she lives with her husband, Bill McKibben, and their daughter Sophie.
June 17th, 7pm: William Jenkins, PhD Senior Vice President Development & Founder, Scientific Learning Corporation
The Science Behind Brain Exercises
William M. Jenkins, Ph.D., is Scientific Learning’s Senior Vice President of Product Development. One of the founders, he joined the company at inception from a faculty position at the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
Jenkins is an expert in learning-based brain plasticity, behavioral algorithms, and psychophysical methods, as well as an expert in multimedia and Internet technology.
www.scilearn.com/our-approach/our-scientists/jenkins/index.php
August 19th, 7pm: Julene K Johnson, PhD
The Importance of Early Diagnosis in Alzheimers Disease and other Dementias
Are you or your loved one simply becoming forgetful, or is something more serious at hand? How to understand the difference between what is "normal" and what might be a warning sign. Why is early diagnosis important? What treatments and resources are available?
Dr. Johnson is a Cognitive Neuroscientist and Associate Professor of Neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. Dr. Johnson leads the California Non-Alzheimer disease Diagnostic Reliability Consortium with UCSF, UCLA, UC Davis, UCSD, UC Irvine, and USC. The purpose of this project is to evaluate diagnostic reliability and accuracy of non-Alzheimer disease dementias. She also studies the perception of music in dementia.