UC Science Today

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/

Wearable health monitors are not new to consumers, but engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have taken the trend a step further by developing a ‘smart’ wrist- or headband that can continually monitor the chemicals in your sweat. And since human sweat is rich in physiological chemicals, this device could be used to assess and monitor a user’s state of health. Engineer Ali Javey describes how it works.

"There is the flexible, printed electronic component. This is where we have the sensors to detect the different chemicals in sweat. And then there is a second component, and that’s where we can process the information, we can analyze the data and we can also transmit the signal to a wireless cell phone."

Their prototype would offer a non-invasive, real-time way to alert users to health problems such as fatigue, dehydration and dangerously high body temperatures.

"And it’s all done using a platform that is just on the back of the watch."

People may be in a sweat to use this now, but more testing still needs to be done.

Wearable health monitors are not new to consumers, but engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have taken the trend a step further by developing a ‘smart’ wrist- or headband that can continually monitor the chemicals in your sweat. And since human sweat is rich in physiological chemicals, this device could be used to assess and monitor a user’s state of health. Engineer Ali Javey describes how it works.

"There is the flexible, printed electronic component. This is where we have the sensors to detect the different chemicals in sweat. And then there is a second component, and that’s where we can process the information, we can analyze the data and we can also transmit the signal to a wireless cell phone."

Their prototype would offer a non-invasive, real-time way to alert users to health problems such as fatigue, dehydration and dangerously high body temperatures.

"And it’s all done using a platform that is just on the back of the watch."

People may be in a sweat to use this now, but more testing still needs to be done.

Wearable health monitors are not new to consumers, but engineers at the University of California, Berkeley have taken the trend a step further by developing a ‘smart’ wrist- or headband that can continually monitor the chemicals in your sweat. And since human sweat is rich in physiological chemicals, this device could be used to assess and monitor a user’s state of health. Engineer Ali Javey describes how it works.

"There is the flexible, printed electronic component. This is where we have the sensors to detect the different chemicals in sweat. And then there is a second component, and that’s where we can process the information, we can analyze the data and we can also transmit the signal to a wireless cell phone."

Their prototype would offer a non-invasive, real-time way to alert users to health problems such as fatigue, dehydration and dangerously high body temperatures.

"And it’s all done using a platform that is just on the back of the watch."

People may be in a sweat to use this now, but more testing still needs to be done.

When it comes to the mechanisms behind our sense of smell, there’s so much we still don’t understand. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley is a pioneer in odor mapping and will be using National Science Foundation funding to help crack the olfactory code in humans and animals. Part of her lab will be looking into the brain’s role in smell navigation in human mental health.

"One of the first symptoms of an illness, and that includes major depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and sociopathy. All of these medical illnesses have in common, and dementias, that you lose your sense of smell; you have an impaired sense of smell. And really, no one understands why that is."

Jacobs says her new lab will study human olfaction, specifically what’s going on with the olfactory navigation system in people with dementia.

"And see if we can add to a new diagnostic tool or help people with their day-to-day lives. How does the impaired olfaction impact that? Maybe if we understand that we can help that."

When it comes to the mechanisms behind our sense of smell, there’s so much we still don’t understand. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley is a pioneer in odor mapping and will be using National Science Foundation funding to help crack the olfactory code in humans and animals. Part of her lab will be looking into the brain’s role in smell navigation in human mental health.

"One of the first symptoms of an illness, and that includes major depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and sociopathy. All of these medical illnesses have in common, and dementias, that you lose your sense of smell; you have an impaired sense of smell. And really, no one understands why that is."

Jacobs says her new lab will study human olfaction, specifically what’s going on with the olfactory navigation system in people with dementia.

"And see if we can add to a new diagnostic tool or help people with their day-to-day lives. How does the impaired olfaction impact that? Maybe if we understand that we can help that."

When it comes to the mechanisms behind our sense of smell, there’s so much we still don’t understand. Psychologist Lucia Jacobs of the University of California, Berkeley is a pioneer in odor mapping and will be using National Science Foundation funding to help crack the olfactory code in humans and animals. Part of her lab will be looking into the brain’s role in smell navigation in human mental health.

"One of the first symptoms of an illness, and that includes major depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and sociopathy. All of these medical illnesses have in common, and dementias, that you lose your sense of smell; you have an impaired sense of smell. And really, no one understands why that is."

Jacobs says her new lab will study human olfaction, specifically what’s going on with the olfactory navigation system in people with dementia.

"And see if we can add to a new diagnostic tool or help people with their day-to-day lives. How does the impaired olfaction impact that? Maybe if we understand that we can help that."

The microbiome may be the key to dealing with allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema. Dr. Susan Lynch of the University of California, San Francisco, was part of a multi-institutional study that found that infants who had a diverse mix of bacteria in the gut during the first six months of life, were at less risk of developing allergies and asthma later in life. At a recent conference, Lynch said their findings could lead to new microbiome-related treatments in humans.

"And it may be a combination of microbial supplementation with appropriate dietary interventions, that really re-engineers the microbial communities in the gastrointestinal tract to produce a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory metabolic products that influence the tone of host-immune response."

Lynch added that the next step for researchers is to figure out how to recognize microbiome abnormalities, who to test for them, and then how to treat them.

The microbiome may be the key to dealing with allergic diseases such as asthma and eczema. Dr. Susan Lynch of the University of California, San Francisco, was part of a multi-institutional study that found that infants who had a diverse mix of bacteria in the gut during the first six months of life, were at less risk of developing allergies and asthma later in life. At a recent conference, Lynch said their findings could lead to new microbiome-related treatments in humans.

"And it may be a combination of microbial supplementation with appropriate dietary interventions, that really re-engineers the microbial communities in the gastrointestinal tract to produce a broad spectrum of anti-inflammatory metabolic products that influence the tone of host-immune response."

Lynch added that the next step for researchers is to figure out how to recognize microbiome abnormalities, who to test for them, and then how to treat them.