Staying Sharp, an ongoing initiative created by the Dana Alliance in partnership with the
NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community, focuses on understanding how the brain works and maximizing brain function and health, particularly in the second half of life. The program includes a series of booklets (found below) and public forums.
These public forums, held in cities across the nation, bring together leading neuroscientists for a dynamic exchange with the audience. Co-sponsored by the Alliance and the NRTA, they are typically two hours in length, with presentations by a neuroscientist panel and a Q&A session with audience members.
Please check back for information on Staying Sharp forums in 2009.
RECENT FORUMS
New York, NY,
October 25, 2008
On a rainy Saturday morning in late October, an at-capacity crowd gathered at Symphony Space on New York’s Upper West Side for a Staying Sharp forum. Dana Alliance member Bernice Grafstein, PhD (of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York) joined fellow panelists Charles Mobbs, PhD (Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York) and Nikos Scarmeas, MD, MSc (Columbia University Medical Center, New York) in a conversation moderated by Annette Norsman, PhD, AARP’s Director of Lifelong Learning.
At the suggestion of Dr. Grafstein, graphics were included in her excellent “brain primer,” which opened the session. The images included an overview of the central nervous system; a diagram of the cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, and hippocampus; and an illustration of the brain’s cortices and the functions they control.
Following the outline of a typical “Staying Sharp” forum, the conversation moved into changes in the brain with age, and current advances in brain research. Dr. Mobbs opened the conversation about the aging brain and neuroplasticity by letting the audience know that the “theme of the day” would be “optimism,” reflecting the positive news coming from current research. Before moving into more specific details on research, drug interventions, and treatment, Dr. Scarmeas provided the audience with an overview of the different types of research (basic, observational, interventional), which helped place the remaining discussion on research in perspective.
Topics raised by the audience during the question-and-answer period included white matter disease, the effect of meditation on stress and vascular risk factors, the importance of sleep, and screening for disease, among others. A question about casual memory slips prompted Dr. Grafstein to gently remind the audience that we all have to “work with what we’ve got”—one of several remarks during the discussion that earned a round of applause.
Concord, NC,
October 4, 2008
In early October a Staying Sharp session was held in Concord, NC, just outside of Charlotte. An all North Carolina-based panel—P. Murali Doraiswamy, MD, and Christopher Edwards, PhD, of Duke University; and Kelly Giovanello, PhD, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—joined moderator Annette Norsman, PhD, Director of Lifelong Learning at AARP, in a lively conversation about the aging brain.
The session opened with an overview of each panelist’s area of expertise. Dr. Edwards spoke about his research in the potential influence of race, gender, and geographical location on the development of dementia. Dr. Doraiswamy discussed his work in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Giovanello, a memory expert, spoke about her research work and then moved into a primer on the brain and an excellent overview of the different kinds of memory.
All of the panelists encouraged the audience to participate in research trials, and shared various resources; both local and national, to help them become involved. As the conversation closed and transitioned into a question and answer period, the very enthusiastic audience lined up for the opportunity to ask the panelists questions directly. Nearly every question was prefaced with wholehearted appreciation for the panelists’ time and expertise. The session closed with a standing ovation from the audience.
Washington, DC, September 5, 2008
On Friday, September 5, a Staying Sharp session was presented in Washington, DC as part of AARP’s annual “Life@50+” member celebration. For this special session we brought back the panel from an October 2007 session that took place at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Washington, DC. Stephanie Johnson, PhD, of the American Psychological Association, moderated a discussion among panelists P. Murali Doraiswamy, MD, of Duke University, Christopher Edwards, PhD, also at Duke University; Patrick Griffith, MD, FAAN, from Meharry Medical College; and Walter J. Koroshetz, MD, NINDS.
The session was introduced by AARP Board Member J. David Nelson, who welcomed the full house of 500 and introduced the panelists and moderator. Dr. Johnson opened the conversation by asking the panelists to discuss their research interests in more detail, and by asking Dr. Koroshetz to provide a primer on the human brain, which he described as one of the “final frontiers” of scientific exploration.
Following a discussion on neuroplasticity, all of the panelists stressed the importance of staying mentally, socially, and physically active. Vascular risk as a factor for disease and dementia was covered in-depth, and all on stage urged the audience to pay attention to highly controllable lifestyle factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, hypertension, and weight in order to reduce risk of stroke, heart attack, vascular dementia, and other illnesses. The panel also discussed the role of lifestyle factors and genetics as they relate to risk among diverse and minority populations, particularly African-Americans.
After closing the discussion with remarks from Dr. Koroshetz and Dr. Edwards on the importance of clinical trials, Dr. Johnson called upon the audience for their questions, which covered topics as ranging as the role of “breaking patterns” in learning and brain health; the possible link between heavy metals and dementia; and current treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease.
San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2008
The 2008 season of Staying Sharp live forums launched with a session in San Francisco at St. Mary’s Cathedral. A crowd of 800 attended the morning program to hear Dana Alliance member Lennart Mucke, MD (Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and the University of California, San Francisco) and Michael P. Stryker, PhD (University of California, San Francisco) speak about the brain. Annette Norsman, PhD, Director of Lifelong Learning for AARP, moderated the session.
Dr. Stryker opened the discussion with an impressive primer on the brain, for which he received a round of applause from the audience for, in Dr. Norsman’s words, condensing a semester’s worth of brain anatomy and function lessons into a five minute introduction. Dr. Norsman then led the panelists through more than an hour of conversation on healthy changes in the brain with aging, disorders of the brain, the latest in research into neurological diseases, and guidelines for a brain healthy lifestyle. During the section on diseases, Dr. Mucke, whose research work focuses in part on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), stressed that, contrary to popular opinion, AD should not be considered an expected part of normal aging. He encouraged the audience to become educated on the latest research into AD and other diseases, to advocate for research funding, and to join clinical trials to aid in the search for cures.
At the close of the conversation, members of the audience lined up to ask the panelists questions about alcohol use and the brain, how mice brains relate to human brains, the effect of chemotherapy on the brain, the role of genetics in brain health, and many more topics.
2007 FORUMS
San Diego, CA, November 3, 2007
On Saturday, November 3, an audience of 1,350 attended the Staying Sharp session at the Town & Country resort in San Diego. This was the final session of 2007, and the year’s most highly attended.
Panelists (left to right) Floyd Bloom, M.D. (Scripps Research Institute); Carl Cotman, Ph.D (University of California, Irvine); and Michael Rugg, Ph.D (University of California, Irvine); joined moderator Annette Norsman, Ph.D (director of NRTA: AARP's Educator Community) in a lively conversation spanning brain health topics. A particular focus of the discussion was cutting-edge brain research in disease, dementia, and memory. Following the panel discussion members of the audience lined up for a question and answer period, after which Dr. Bloom signed copies of his recent Dana publication Best of the Brain from Scientific American.
Boston, MA, September 7, 2007
An enthusiastic audience of more than 600 people filled the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for a Staying Sharp session that was organized as part of “Life@50+,”AARP’s annual national member conference.
(From left) Dennis J. Selkoe, M.D., Reisa Sperling, M.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Gary L. Gottlieb, M.D., M.B.A, and David A. Drachman, M.D., joined in a lively conversation led by moderator Annette Norsman, the director of NRTA: AARP's Educator Community.
Opening with a primer on the brain, the discussion touched on many neuroscience topics, including memory loss and aging, brain plasticity and how the older brain learns, potential causes of dementia, the benefit of clinical trials, and causes of depression. The speakers offered four basic guidelines to follow to protect the health of their brains: maintaining physical activity, staying mentally active, remaining socially engaged, and managing cardiovascular risk.
This is the fourth time that a Staying Sharp session has been presented at AARP’s annual event, which this year drew a record crowd of more than 27,000 people. This was the second time Boston had played host to Staying Sharp: More than 700 people attended the session at the Boston/Newton Marriott in Newton, Mass., on February 10. Drs. Drachman and Sperling were panelists at that session as well.
Washington, DC, October 6, 2007
More than 500 people attended a Staying Sharp session at the Lincoln Theatre in the nation's capital. The discussion included a special focus on the treatment of depression and stroke prevention in minority populations.
The panel included (from left) P. Murali Doraiswamy, M.D., head of the Biological Psychiatry Division at Duke University Medical Center; Christopher Edwards, Ph.D, Medical Director of the Biofeedback Laboratory at Duke University; Walter Koroshetz, M.D., Deputy Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); Patrick Griffith, M.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at Meharry Medical College in Nashville; and discussion moderator Stephanie Johnson, Ph.D, Director of Applied Psychological Science, American Psychological Association. Dr. Johnson was a panelist the April 2007 Staying Sharp session in Tucson.