By Cecilia Nasmith
The Northumberland Learning Connection's spring series is an opportunity to learn more about The Brain & The Mind.
Speakers from Sunnybrook, Baycrest, the University of Montreal and the Brain and Mind Institute of Western University are among those lined up to provide amazing insights in the series, which involves eight events running from March 23 through April 20.
Brain and mind experts will discuss treating mental illness, new types of brain surgery, health aging and cognition, understanding comas and long COVID, learning from dreams, and even changing your brain.
March 23 – The Brain & The Mind Are Different...And The Same – 7:30 p.m. at the Columbus Community Centre (232 Spencer St. E., Cobourg), with a Zoom option – Chief of the Sunnybrook Brain Sciences Program Dr. Anthony Levitt kicks off the series with a look at new research that demonstrates how the brain and the mind need to be studied together, rather than as separate entities. A specialist in mood disorders, Dr. Levitt helps families find the most appropriate care for young people suffering from a mental illness or addiction.
March 24 – Revolutions In Brain Surgery – 10 a.m. at the Columbus Community Centre, with a Zoom option – Neurosurgeon Dr. Nir Lipsman studies techniques that will revolutionize treatments for the brain and mind, such as burning a tiny hole in the brain with focused ultrasound. These new approaches are changing the way depression, OCD, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other diseases of the brain and mind are understood and treated.
March 30 – Cognitive Impairment Is Not Inevitable – 7:30 p.m. at the Columbus Community Centre (no Zoom option) – Although everyone complains about “senior moments,” not all cognitive functions decline with age. Dr. Nicole Anderson of Baycrest explains the important influence of how we eat, move, sleep, hear, see and feel, and will share a link to a cognitive assessment that participants can conduct privately (sponsored by the Vanhaverbeke Foundation).
March 31 – How Does My Cognition Measure Up – 10 a.m. at the Columbus Community Centre (no Zoom option) – Dr. Anderson follows up her March 30 session with a look at how participants can privately analyze the results of their cognitive assessments in the context of an over-all study, and provides examples of how cognition is assessed in a clinical setting.
April 6 – From Coma To COVID-19: New Approaches to Assessing Brain Function – 7:30 p.m. via Zoom – Dr. Adrian Owen, a professor at Western University's The Brain and Mind Institute, discusses new techniques that can detect consciousness and even help communicate with some patients who appear to be comatose. These methods have recently shed light on the brain fog associated with long COVID, and bring profound implications for diagnosis, care, prognosis and medical-legal decision making, as well as our understanding of the relationship between brain and mind.
April 13 – What Dreams Are Made Of: The New Science – 7:30 p.m. at the Columbus Community Centre (no Zoom option) – Questions surrounding the origins and meanings of dreams are as old as time, and as exciting today as when 19th-century scientists first attempted to unravel them. Universite de Montreal professor Dr. Antonion Zadra explores new ways to study the content of people's dreams, how they relate to waking life experiences, and the brain-based processes behind our nightly dreams (sponsored by the Vanhaverbeke Foundation).
April 14 – Exploring Your Own Dreams – 10 a.m. At the Columbus Community Centre (no Zoom option) – Dreams have long been viewed as a tool for self-exploration, as well as a unique source of creativity. Dr. Zadra focuses on how to improve dream recall, ways of working with and understanding dreams, and how dreams can be used as a tool for problem solving and creativity.
April 20 – The Brain Can Change Itself – 7:30 p.m. at Cobourg Collegiate Institute (335 King St. E., Cobourg), with no Zoom option – Acclaimed psychiatrist and author Dr. Norman Doidge will explore the brain as a plastic, living organ that can actually change its own structure and function, even into old age, according to a revolutionary discovery called neuroplasticity. This may be the most important alteration in our understanding of the brain since neuroscience was developed, overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the brain is fixed and unchanging. This session will explore the implications for our lives in terms of how what we do changes our brains, for better or worse, and how this knowledge can have a direct positive impact on a number of brain problems affecting people of every age.
Tickets for all events are available on the Northumberland Learning Connection web page. Each session is $25 – except for the March 31 and April 14 programs, which are $20 each. There is also the option to purchase a series package for all eight events for $169 – an 11% discount.
For all sessions except the ones on March 31, April 14 and April 20, your ticket price includes access to a recording if you can't make the date.
