UC Science Today

Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is a condition that makes it hard for people to process sensory input, like sounds and tactile sensations. This happens because parts of the brain can’t interpret sensory information correctly. Child neurologist Elysa Marco of the University of California, San Francisco describes a common scenario in a child with this disorder.

"Usually it’s an auditory input, a sound. So the top three are vacuum cleaners, blenders, automatic-flushing toilets. Kids between the age of six months and five years will, as soon as they can move themselves, run screaming from the room, hands over their ears when one these kinds of sounds gets into their world. I do think there probably is something about the low pitch hum that seems to hit a particular neural frequency, but we have no idea. The research in this field, really in some ways is just beginning."

Marco was part of a groundbreaking study showing that kids with SPD have measurable brain differences that were distinct from other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Learn more about the UCSF team conducting this research: http://anp.ucsf.edu/overview/spd

Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is a condition that makes it hard for people to process sensory input, like sounds and tactile sensations. This happens because parts of the brain can’t interpret sensory information correctly. Child neurologist Elysa Marco of the University of California, San Francisco describes a common scenario in a child with this disorder.

"Usually it’s an auditory input, a sound. So the top three are vacuum cleaners, blenders, automatic-flushing toilets. Kids between the age of six months and five years will, as soon as they can move themselves, run screaming from the room, hands over their ears when one these kinds of sounds gets into their world. I do think there probably is something about the low pitch hum that seems to hit a particular neural frequency, but we have no idea. The research in this field, really in some ways is just beginning."

Marco was part of a groundbreaking study showing that kids with SPD have measurable brain differences that were distinct from other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Learn more about the UCSF team conducting this research: http://anp.ucsf.edu/overview/spd

Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, is a condition that makes it hard for people to process sensory input, like sounds and tactile sensations. This happens because parts of the brain can’t interpret sensory information correctly. Child neurologist Elysa Marco of the University of California, San Francisco describes a common scenario in a child with this disorder.

"Usually it’s an auditory input, a sound. So the top three are vacuum cleaners, blenders, automatic-flushing toilets. Kids between the age of six months and five years will, as soon as they can move themselves, run screaming from the room, hands over their ears when one these kinds of sounds gets into their world. I do think there probably is something about the low pitch hum that seems to hit a particular neural frequency, but we have no idea. The research in this field, really in some ways is just beginning."

Marco was part of a groundbreaking study showing that kids with SPD have measurable brain differences that were distinct from other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Learn more about the UCSF team conducting this research: http://anp.ucsf.edu/overview/spd

The average American consumes 13 percent of their daily calories from added sugars. And almost half of that comes from sources like sodas, sports drinks or flavored sweetened coffees. Earlier this year, the USDA released new dietary guidelines that, for the first time, advises Americans to consume no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars. This is good news to nutritional biologist, Dr. Kimber Stanhope of the University of California, Davis, but she admits it may take some behavior modification.

"Undoubtedly we are all in situations where we need to eat sugar – you know, the social pressures – it’s fine, but what we all need to do is get to the point where sugar is a special occasion food, it’s not a staple. We are eating it at the levels as if it’s a staple and that’s where we need to think very carefully about our foods and where they come from and what they can be doing to our health."

The average American consumes 13 percent of their daily calories from added sugars. And almost half of that comes from sources like sodas, sports drinks or flavored sweetened coffees. Earlier this year, the USDA released new dietary guidelines that, for the first time, advises Americans to consume no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars. This is good news to nutritional biologist, Dr. Kimber Stanhope of the University of California, Davis, but she admits it may take some behavior modification.

"Undoubtedly we are all in situations where we need to eat sugar – you know, the social pressures – it’s fine, but what we all need to do is get to the point where sugar is a special occasion food, it’s not a staple. We are eating it at the levels as if it’s a staple and that’s where we need to think very carefully about our foods and where they come from and what they can be doing to our health."

The average American consumes 13 percent of their daily calories from added sugars. And almost half of that comes from sources like sodas, sports drinks or flavored sweetened coffees. Earlier this year, the USDA released new dietary guidelines that, for the first time, advises Americans to consume no more than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars. This is good news to nutritional biologist, Dr. Kimber Stanhope of the University of California, Davis, but she admits it may take some behavior modification.

"Undoubtedly we are all in situations where we need to eat sugar – you know, the social pressures – it’s fine, but what we all need to do is get to the point where sugar is a special occasion food, it’s not a staple. We are eating it at the levels as if it’s a staple and that’s where we need to think very carefully about our foods and where they come from and what they can be doing to our health."

Wi-Fi signals are predominantly used for communication, but a team of engineers at the University of California, Santa Barbara are working to use Wi-Fi signals as a sensing mechanism. Yasamin Mostofi and her team have shown that a Wifi signal can be used to count the number of people in a given space, which can someday be used for energy efficiency.

"For instance, the current smart speakers, they have Wi-Fi cards, so we have a very rich environment in a smart home for Wi-Fi links. And so we can imagine they could be used in figuring out which areas are more crowded and optimizing all sorts of things, like heating and cooling based on where people are. We think of it as an additional way of sensing."

Mostofi’s lab is also working on other uses for Wi-Fi, including using at archeological sites.

"Where sometimes there’s part of a structure that’s, you know, you just don’t want to break and you want to sense something behind it and you just simply can’t use cameras – it’s not visible."

Educators looking for a way to get kids interested in materials science and engineering may want to bring some superheroes into the mix. That’s what mechanical engineer Suveen Mathaudhu of the University of California, Riverside has been doing – and it seems to be working. He’s now regarded as an expert on the science of superheroes.

"The science portrayed in comic books is fairly diverse. From the metals work that you see in Captain America’s shield and in Thor’s metal hammer and in Wolverine’s claws; to bio-inspired materials, like Spiderman’s web; to magnetic materials and energy materials as manipulated by Magneto."

Mathaudhu, who studies how to make metallic materials lighter and stronger, started making connections between the superpowers of superheroes and real science.

"I started using these in my technical talks as an interest grabber and then slowly, I saw more and more connections to research, to STEM outreach, and to the kind of work that I’m doing. So, it’s been a fantastic outreach tool and continues to be interesting to me."

Wi-Fi signals are predominantly used for communication, but a team of engineers at the University of California, Santa Barbara are working to use Wi-Fi signals as a sensing mechanism. Yasamin Mostofi and her team have shown that a Wifi signal can be used to count the number of people in a given space, which can someday be used for energy efficiency.

"For instance, the current smart speakers, they have Wi-Fi cards, so we have a very rich environment in a smart home for Wi-Fi links. And so we can imagine they could be used in figuring out which areas are more crowded and optimizing all sorts of things, like heating and cooling based on where people are. We think of it as an additional way of sensing."

Mostofi’s lab is also working on other uses for Wi-Fi, including using at archeological sites.

"Where sometimes there’s part of a structure that’s, you know, you just don’t want to break and you want to sense something behind it and you just simply can’t use cameras – it’s not visible."

Educators looking for a way to get kids interested in materials science and engineering may want to bring some superheroes into the mix. That’s what mechanical engineer Suveen Mathaudhu of the University of California, Riverside has been doing – and it seems to be working. He’s now regarded as an expert on the science of superheroes.

"The science portrayed in comic books is fairly diverse. From the metals work that you see in Captain America’s shield and in Thor’s metal hammer and in Wolverine’s claws; to bio-inspired materials, like Spiderman’s web; to magnetic materials and energy materials as manipulated by Magneto."

Mathaudhu, who studies how to make metallic materials lighter and stronger, started making connections between the superpowers of superheroes and real science.

"I started using these in my technical talks as an interest grabber and then slowly, I saw more and more connections to research, to STEM outreach, and to the kind of work that I’m doing. So, it’s been a fantastic outreach tool and continues to be interesting to me."