UC Science Today

Have you ever heard the term ‘perceptual narrowing’? It basically refers to the phenomenon where one’s perception is broad from birth, but narrows in time due to experience. Michael Sheehan, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, says it’s been previously tested with primate faces.

"Primates in general when they’re infants, they are really interested in anything that’s vaguely primate-like face and over time, they become more and more attuned and sort of specialized for learning the feature that are relevant to the particular face of their species. And even so to their population."

Sheehan says a similar process happens when humans learn language.

"So you start out being able to learn any language possible, right? And over time, you focus in on those sounds that you hear the most regularly. And then you become specialized learning one language. The same thing happens with faces – human infants are better at telling apart primate faces than adults are because of the fact that we become more specialized looking at humans in particular."

Have you ever heard the term ‘perceptual narrowing’? It basically refers to the phenomenon where one’s perception is broad from birth, but narrows in time due to experience. Michael Sheehan, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, says it’s been previously tested with primate faces.

"Primates in general when they’re infants, they are really interested in anything that’s vaguely primate-like face and over time, they become more and more attuned and sort of specialized for learning the feature that are relevant to the particular face of their species. And even so to their population."

Sheehan says a similar process happens when humans learn language.

"So you start out being able to learn any language possible, right? And over time, you focus in on those sounds that you hear the most regularly. And then you become specialized learning one language. The same thing happens with faces – human infants are better at telling apart primate faces than adults are because of the fact that we become more specialized looking at humans in particular."

Have you ever heard the term ‘perceptual narrowing’? It basically refers to the phenomenon where one’s perception is broad from birth, but narrows in time due to experience. Michael Sheehan, a behavioral ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, says it’s been previously tested with primate faces.

"Primates in general when they’re infants, they are really interested in anything that’s vaguely primate-like face and over time, they become more and more attuned and sort of specialized for learning the feature that are relevant to the particular face of their species. And even so to their population."

Sheehan says a similar process happens when humans learn language.

"So you start out being able to learn any language possible, right? And over time, you focus in on those sounds that you hear the most regularly. And then you become specialized learning one language. The same thing happens with faces – human infants are better at telling apart primate faces than adults are because of the fact that we become more specialized looking at humans in particular."

A potential way to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus and malaria might be by manipulating receptors in a mosquito’s ‘nose’.* Entomologist Anandasankar Ray of the University of California, Riverside says his lab is working to make humans essentially invisible to a mosquito’ sense of smell.

"Mosquitos use carbon dioxide to navigate towards human beings from a distance. So the idea always has been that perhaps, if we could find small odors that could block the carbon dioxide machinery in the mosquito we may be able to reduce their ability to find us."

Ray’s lab did find such odors. And now, their research has led to the development of a wearable patch that is currently being tested for consumer use.

"And so I am hopeful that this approach will perhaps not only help protect us in our backyard barbeques, but also help have an impact on malaria, in Africa."

* in this case, 'nose' = antennae

A potential way to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus and malaria might be by manipulating receptors in a mosquito’s ‘nose’.* Entomologist Anandasankar Ray of the University of California, Riverside says his lab is working to make humans essentially invisible to a mosquito’ sense of smell.

"Mosquitos use carbon dioxide to navigate towards human beings from a distance. So the idea always has been that perhaps, if we could find small odors that could block the carbon dioxide machinery in the mosquito we may be able to reduce their ability to find us."

Ray’s lab did find such odors. And now, their research has led to the development of a wearable patch that is currently being tested for consumer use.

"And so I am hopeful that this approach will perhaps not only help protect us in our backyard barbeques, but also help have an impact on malaria, in Africa."

* in this case, 'nose' = antennae

A potential way to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like the Zika virus and malaria might be by manipulating receptors in a mosquito’s ‘nose’.* Entomologist Anandasankar Ray of the University of California, Riverside says his lab is working to make humans essentially invisible to a mosquito’ sense of smell.

"Mosquitos use carbon dioxide to navigate towards human beings from a distance. So the idea always has been that perhaps, if we could find small odors that could block the carbon dioxide machinery in the mosquito we may be able to reduce their ability to find us."

Ray’s lab did find such odors. And now, their research has led to the development of a wearable patch that is currently being tested for consumer use.

"And so I am hopeful that this approach will perhaps not only help protect us in our backyard barbeques, but also help have an impact on malaria, in Africa."

* in this case, 'nose' = antennae

UC San Francisco’s Jason Gestwicki describes his lab’s work developing eye drops to reverse cataracts. This would be a boon to the millions of people who go blind every year in developing countries because they can't afford (or have access to) the current, successful surgical treatment. Gestwicki’s work has won a UCSF ‘Catalyst Award’ and led to the launch of ViewPoint Therapeutics, an “incubator” program at the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3).

In this conversational and informative interview, Gestwicki walks us through the ‘Eureka!’ moments of the study, underscores the value of translational research at the university and discusses the many implications their finding may have on other diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gestwicki joined the UCSF faculty in 2013. While he has continued his work on cataracts at UCSF, much of the work was undertaken in his lab at the University of Michigan (U-M). The former graduate student that Gestwicki mentions in this interview, Leah Makely, was a member of the U-M team and is now the chief scientific officer at ViewPoint Therapeutics.

Music: "Rainbow Street" by Scott Holmes

freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/

Kids who struggle with processing certain sounds and tactile sensations may have sensory processing disorder, or SPD. While the condition is not as well-known as other neurodevelopmental disorders, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have found measurable neurological differences in the brains of kids with SPD and those of typically developing children. Child neurologist Elysa Marco says their work was the largest imaging study ever done in children with SPD and the first to compare brain wiring.

"I think the big issue is that with SPD being sort of the new kid on the block, it is very difficult to get big-ticket support for it. And so we’re hoping to try and get more national support for the work that we’re doing and other labs are doing around the country, to makes sure that it’s targeted not just to understanding the underlying brain-based differences, but the treatments that might be able to make a difference for our kids’ lives."

Kids who struggle with processing certain sounds and tactile sensations may have sensory processing disorder, or SPD. While the condition is not as well-known as other neurodevelopmental disorders, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have found measurable neurological differences in the brains of kids with SPD and those of typically developing children. Child neurologist Elysa Marco says their work was the largest imaging study ever done in children with SPD and the first to compare brain wiring.

"I think the big issue is that with SPD being sort of the new kid on the block, it is very difficult to get big-ticket support for it. And so we’re hoping to try and get more national support for the work that we’re doing and other labs are doing around the country, to makes sure that it’s targeted not just to understanding the underlying brain-based differences, but the treatments that might be able to make a difference for our kids’ lives."

UC San Francisco’s Jason Gestwicki describes his lab’s work developing eye drops to reverse cataracts. This would be a boon to the millions of people who go blind every year in developing countries because they can't afford (or have access to) the current, successful surgical treatment. Gestwicki’s work has won a UCSF ‘Catalyst Award’ and led to the launch of ViewPoint Therapeutics, an “incubator” program at the California Institute of Quantitative Biosciences (QB3).

In this conversational and informative interview, Gestwicki walks us through the ‘Eureka!’ moments of the study, underscores the value of translational research at the university and discusses the many implications their finding may have on other diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Gestwicki joined the UCSF faculty in 2013. While he has continued his work on cataracts at UCSF, much of the work was undertaken in his lab at the University of Michigan (U-M). The former graduate student that Gestwicki mentions in this interview, Leah Makely, was a member of the U-M team and is now the chief scientific officer at ViewPoint Therapeutics.

Music: "Rainbow Street" by Scott Holmes

freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/