Indian Newslink December 15, 2017 Digital Edition

DECEMBER 15, 2017
06 Educationlink
Scientists study how the brain talks to other organs
Research to understand the Autonomic Nervous System
Venkat Raman
venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz
Do you know that almost
every emotion activates
your nervous system
which in turn impacts on
the functioning of the brain and
other essential organs of your
body?
That was of course a simplistic
question, but it illustrates the
need to take cognisance of the importance
of the nervous system.
The Auckland Bioengineering
Institute (ABI) of University of
Auckland is playing a key role
in a Programme of the US-based
National Institute of Health (NIH)
that aims to understand and use
the autonomic nervous system to
treat disease.
ABI Director Professor
Peter Hunter said that the $20
million plus programme, called,
‘Stimulating Peripheral Activity
to Relieve Conditions (SPARC),
recognises that all organs of the
human body are innervated by
the autonomic nervous system.
A chilling example
“For example, when you have a
fright, you release adrenalin into
your body, your heart rate speeds
up and all sorts of things change,
partly because you are releasing
hormones into the blood stream,
and partly because your neural
system is activating through neural
transmission to your organs,”
Professor Peter Hunter
Professor Hunter said.
This has been a relatively
neglected area of neuroscience, as
researchers have focused on the
higher cognitive functions of the
brain, he said.
But a year ago, the NIH funded
a number of experimental groups
to map out neural innervation
looking at how peripheral nerves
send out electrical signals to a
particular organ in response to
external and internal factors
such as stress, diet, exercise and
disease.
Potential to treat diseases
Part of NIH’s motivation is a
growing awareness that modulation
of these electrical, control
signals via therapies and devices
is a potentially powerful way to
treat many diseases and conditions
such as hypertension, heart
failure, gastrointestinal disorders,
type II diabetes, inflammatory
disorders, and more.
But more knowledge is needed
to fully understand how these
therapies control internal organ
function, Professor Hunter said.
“In addition, the design of more
effective neuro-modulation therapies
requires knowing exactly
what nerves one must stimulate
and how they must be stimulated
to achieve the desired effect on
organ function,” he said.
Mapping digital info
A key aspect of the SPARC project
is mapping and organising all
the digital information generated,
which would be the area of
involvement for ABI.
Professor Hunter and his team
(which includes Dr Bernard de
Bono and Dr David Nickerson
from the ABI, as well as a number
of ABI software developers) are
one of three groups commissioned
to form the Data and
Resource Center working on
digital components of SPARC.
“Our role is to map data as it
is collected and not only from
different organs but also from
the different animal species used
in physiological experiments,”
Professor Hunter said.
Five-Year Project
Over five years, ABI will be
mapping all the data as it is produced
and developing web portals
that will enable researchers
to interact with the data and start
developing computer models.
“This builds on the infrastructure
and modelling work we’ve
already developed and it will
enable us to acquire new skills
and experience with neural
pathways,” Professor Hunter said.
University Physiologist Professor
Julian Paton, who has spent
30 years studying the autonomic
nervous system and is collaborating
with ABI, said that modulating
the activity of nerves controlling
our organs has huge potential for
addressing unmet clinical need
for many cardiovascular and
metabolic diseases.
“The SPARC programme will
provide essential information
and, for the first time, reveal how
the brain talks to every organ of
our body which can be subsequently
mimicked by devices to
treat diseases,” he said.
NCEA examinations
over for another year
Supplied Content
NCEA and New Zealand
Scholarship examinations
are closed for the
year.
The New Zealand Qualifications
Authority (NZQA) and
schools have run more than 100
examinations at 411 examination
centres over the last four
weeks, Deputy Chief Executive
Kristine Kilkelly said.
“Our examinations process
is a significant undertaking,
with around 143,000 students
entered for examinations that
count towards their NCEA
achievement. The great support
from schools helps to make
sure the examinations process
runs smoothly,” she said.
Pilot Programme
Ms Kilkelly said that about
5100 students had entered for
digital examinations as a part
of the NZQA Digital Trials and
Pilots programme.
Digital examinations were
available at NCEA Level 1 in
English, Media Studies and
Classical Studies, and in the
same subjects at NCEA Level 2.
NCEA results will be available
online from January 16, 2018
and Scholarship results on
February 13, 2018. The secure
Learner Login section of the
NZQA website will be unavailable
from January 12, 2018.
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