UVic BRAIN Lab

Monday’s here, and so is our weekly team highlight! 🎉 This week, we’re giving a shout-out to Gabby, one of our fantastic RA’s.

Gabby is a third-year undergraduate student working towards completing her BSc, with a major in psychology and a minor in anthropology. She is currently a research assistant involved in studying the cognitive impacts of COVID-19 with the BRAIN Lab. Specifically, she is passionate about exploring the field of psychology through the mental health and well-being, and the neuropsychology streams. Outside of her academic pursuits, Gabby enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time outdoors with her friends.

Thanks for all your hard work, Gabby!

We hope everyone had a nice weekend😊. We're here for Team Member Monday!

This week we'd like to highlight Emma, our awesome lab coordinator! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication, Emma!

We hope everyone had a great first few days of classes and is feeling good going in to this week😊. We’re here for another team member Monday!

This week we’d like to highlight one of our amazing grad students, Cian! It’s so great to have you with us, Cian.

Happy Monday everyone! We're back for another Team Member Monday! We hope everyone is enjoying their summer and had a lovely weekend.

Here are some fun facts about neuroplasticity!🧠

- Lifelong Plasticity: Neuroplasticity isn't just for children. While the brain is particularly plastic during childhood, it retains the ability to change and adapt throughout adulthood and into old age.💫

-Recovery from Injury: After a brain injury, other parts of the brain can sometimes take over the functions of the damaged areas, aiding in recovery. This is due to the brain's ability to reorganize itself. 🤕

-Environmental Influence: A stimulating environment with diverse experiences can enhance neuroplasticity, while a lack of stimulation can hinder it. 🌎

-Negative Plasticity: Not all neuroplastic changes are beneficial. For example, the brain can also develop maladaptive pathways that contribute to chronic pain, anxiety, or addiction. ⚠

-Critical Periods: There are certain critical periods during development when the brain is especially receptive to learning specific skills, such as language acquisition in early childhood. 🗣

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We're back for another Team Member Monday😊. This week, we'd like to highlight Neelah, one of our new research assistants. Keep up the great work, Neelah!

Welcome back for another team member monday! This week we’d like to highlight one of our new RAs, Isabel. Thank you for all your great work, Isabel!

Hi everyone! We are back for another Team Member Monday. This week we'd like to highlight Emma Knock, one of our lovely research assistants. Thank you for all your hard work, Emma!

Have you heard of the Five Factor Model (also known as the Big Five Model or OCEAN)? This model is an organization system that measures personality across five domains:

Openness to experience: the willingness to engage with new people, ideas, and experiences

Conscientiousness: inclination to be organized, thoughtful, and responsible

Extraversion: Interests are oriented toward external events versus internal experiences

Agreeableness: Tendency to act cooperatively and unselfishly

Neuroticism: Experiences the world as threatening or unsafe



You might have also seen the Big Five Model used in research and wondered why. Here are a few reasons it may be used:

Predictive Validity: Big Five indicators have been consistently linked to various outcomes such as Subjective Cognitive Decline and compliance with pandemic restrictions.

Targeted interventions: Assessments of the Five Factor Model are inexpensive and simple to administer, offering an accessible measure that can inform targeted research and interventions.

Consistency in Measures: Though there is room for improvement and factors may not be applicable to all cultures , scales measuring the Big Five indicators have demonstrated good reliability.

Accessibility: Assessments of the Five Factor Model are inexpensive and simple to administer, offering an accessible measure for participants and researchers.

Swipe to see some of the ways the BRAIN lab has used this model in our research!



research research

Here are some research-backed ways to promote healthy cognition and cognitive aging:

1. Stay Socially Active. Staying socially active is crucial for brain health and overall wellbeing. A few ways to be more socially active are to join volunteer groups, call your loved ones regularly, say yes to invitations, and engage in casual conversation with familiar faces like baristas and grocery clerks!

2. Challenge your brain. Challenging your brain can build new neural connections and strengthen ones that already exist! There are many ways to challenge your brain, including doing word puzzles, learning new skills, cooking new recipes, or using your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth. Try to do something to challenge your brain every day!

3. Stay physically active. It is recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, running, cycling, cardio dance, and some forms of yoga and pilates. Participating in muscle strengthening activities, including weightlifting, bodyweight exercises, and rock climbing at least twice a week is also recommended.

4. Healthy eating. Eat a healthy diet by incorporating a variety of fruits and vegetables each day, choosing whole-grains, and limiting processed foods. Also, make sure that you are eating enough food each day to fuel your daily activities!

Happy Monday Everyone! This week we'd like to highlight Hannah Kroeplin, one of our fabulous undergraduate RA's. Keep up the great work, Hannah! :

New team member Monday! This week we'd like to highlight Miki, one of our terrific undergraduate RA's. Thank you for all your hard work, Miki!

For our team member spotlight this week, we'd like to highlight Morgan Schaeffer!

Thank you for all of your great contributions to the lab, Morgan.

Congratulations to Christina Beck for presenting her honours thesis on the effects of chronic illness on Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in youth! Thank you for all your hard work throughout the year and for representing the Brain Lab at Making Waves!

This week we're doing something a little different: Team Member Tuesday! We'd like to highlight another one of our terrific undergraduate RA's, Kudrat Bhinder. Thank you for all your hard work, Kudrat!

Welcome back to another Team Member Monday! This week we'd like to highlight undergraduate research assistant, Kyla Basbaum. Thank you for all of your great work, Kyla!

Some of our lab's research focuses on Dementia, so we wanted to provide a background on the condition. Let us know in the comments what other topics you would be interested in seeing!

Welcome back for another Team Member Monday! This week we’d like to highlight one of our awesome graduate students, Alison Chung. Keep up the great work, Alison! 😊

Last week some of our team met with the Risky Behaviour Lab - University of Victoria to take a much needed break from studying and enjoy painting together! 😊

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and got to enjoy the sunny weather we're having! For this week's Team Member Spotlight, we'd like to highlight our terrific RA, Taleesha. We appreciate you!

We'd like to highlight some careers related to our research in aging, illness, and neuropsychology. Can you think of any more? Comment them below! 😊

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We're back this Monday for another Team Member Spotlight! This week we'd like to highlight Katherine. Thank you for all that you do, Katherine!😊

Check out the lab's new publication! The study investigates the interplay between COVID-19 public health restriction knowledge and compliance, perceived infection risk, and mental health outcomes.

The full publication: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115802

We started a new series a few weeks ago on our Instagram page called Team Member Mondays. Here are all of the wonderful team members we’ve highlighted so far. Thank you for your hard work and dedication everyone! The BRAIN lab would not be able to run without you.

Way to go, Alison! We are so proud!

Congratulations to Alison Chung, Graduate Student in Neuropsychology and IALH Student Affiliate, on receiving the The Eldercare Foundation's Ruth A. Gardner Award.

Alison's research will explore the influence of social factors have on the relationship between and cognitive function.

https://bit.ly/3OTybZH