My apologies for not having blogged in a few days. I landed back in San Francisco today after speaking and participating in a very stimulating event put together by the Arizona State University’s Adaptive Neural Systems Center with funding from the National Science Foundation.

The 2-day symposium was titled Co-Adaptive Learning: Adaptive Technology for the Aging (link opens a PDF with the agenda), featured impressive speakers and a highly qualified audience, and covered a wide array of current and future healthcare and aging applications of neuroscience. The one aspect that was very meaningful for me to observe how often we discussed cognitive abilities, cognitive deficits, cognitive assessments, cognitive enhancement tools (both invasive and non-invasive) in a variety of healthy aging and clinical contexts.

I will share more about the event in the next few days, including links to the fascinating work presented by speakers, but let me know simply thank the two gracious organizers and hosts of the event by quoting the goal of their center and work:

- Jimmy Abbas, PhD: “One of the hallmarks of biological systems is the ability to adapt. In our work, we mimic neurobiological systems in order to endow technology with the ability to adapt, and we use technology to maximize adaptations in neurobiological systems. With these approaches, we aim to promote functional adaptation after disability.”

- Ranu Jung, PhD: “Our goal is to improve the quality of life of individuals with disabilities by designing techniques to investigate, replace and repair damaged neural systems to enhance mobility and functionality. Whether a person has spinal cord injury, limb loss or Parkinson’s disease, mobility and functionality mean independence.”

Links:

Center: Adaptive Neural Systems Center.

Agenda (PDF): Co-Adaptive Learning: Adaptive Technology for the Aging