It was a great cafe last month. I always think no one will show up…boy was I wrong this month. it was a packed house at the Atlas Cafe, we had over 150 people squeeze through the doors.

We started with an interview of Adam by Jeff Miller of LBL that debunked many of the myths around memory & aging (some such as that menopause affects memory were confirmed). Adam then dove into his presentation on aging, highlighting the distinctions between attention and memory. His lab utilizes a combination of methodologies: fMRI, EEG, TCS for studies on memory. Adam discussed many of his results, indicating that as we age, we don’t lose the ability to remember as much as our ability to ignore irrelevant information goes down…meaning we can’t ignore the useless info making it harder to focus on the important info.

The audience asked scores of intriguiging questions from how diet/exercise affects memory to using games to enhance memory. For the full story, check out the videos below:

More Resources:
Adam’s Lab
PNAS paper on Top Down Modulation
Posit Science Brain Excercises

Part 1

Part 2

Dr. Phillipe Goldin, a past speaker on the Neuroscience of Meditation, is looking for participants in a social anxiety study (the anxiety is mitigated through meditation) . I took part in such a study last year, you can read about my experience here. More info can be found below.

In addition, our next speaker Dr. Adam Gazzaley, runs studies on normal aging in adults. He is mainly looking for adults aged 18-35 or over 60. Most of the studies involve fMRI or EEG, check out Wired Science for a story of a guinea pig. For more info, check out Adam’s participate page.

Dr. Goldin’s Study
Treatment Study for Social Anxiety at Stanford University

We are running two studies at Stanford University where we are offering (1) 16 sessions of free state-of-the-art cognitive behavioral therapy, or (2) 9 weeks of stress reduction (either a mindfulness based stress reduction or an exercise stress reduction) to people with social anxiety. The treatment study?s goal is to better understand the mechanisms of therapeutic change and its long-term impact in individuals who suffer from social anxiety.

We are seeking people with English fluency who are right handed, age
21-55 individuals who primarily have problems with social anxiety and are able to commute to Stanford University assessments. Treatment can take place in SF or the Peninsula. We also ask that study participants be willing to discontinue use of mood or anxiety medications and concurrent therapy for the duration of their participation in the study.

If you would like more information or you have a referral, please view our website (http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~caan/) and call
(650-723-5977) or email us (caan at psych.stanford.edu)