UNews - kinesiology researcher

Study to examine how social and economic stressors affect Aboriginal health

trevor.kenney — Mon, 15 Jul 2013 17:03:05 +0000

In a first-of-its-kind study, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers are examining how the social and economic adversity faced by Aboriginal peoples may affect their biological health.

This new study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, will be co-lead by three researchers at the U of L, pulling together research strengths from health sciences, kinesiology and neuroscience.

"Aboriginal populations experience high levels of chronic stress as they are often marginalized both socially and economically in Canada. We know that over time, high unrelenting stress can have a profound influence on biological systems," says study Co-Lead, Dr. Cheryl Currie, who is a public health researcher at the U of L.

Stressful experiences are an inevitable part of life, but repeated and chronic exposure to uncontrollable stressors can disrupt the function of neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and immune systems. Markers of biological disruption can be identified well before the clinical markers of disease are detected.

"We tend to think about social and biological determinants of health separately. Connecting the two is a more comprehensive way to think about health- and may shed new light on why Aboriginal populations are disproportionately affected by chronic disease," says study Co-Lead, Dr. Jennifer Copeland, a U of L kinesiology researcher.

The study will also build on past research by Currie indicating that Aboriginal cultural practices promote resilience against alcohol and drug abuse within Aboriginal populations. In this new study, the team will examine the extent to which Aboriginal cultural practices may promote biologic resilience and improve health. Further, the study will examine the ways in which western approaches to wellness, such as regular physical activity, may also promote resiliency in these populations.

Dr. Gerlinde Metz, a neuroscientist at the U of L's Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience and Co-Lead on the study says understanding the biological effects of adverse social conditions is an important step towards the development of interventions that can improve population health and wellness.

"Information gained from the study will be used to help identify new strategies that can reduce health disparities experienced by Aboriginal populations," says Metz.

The full research team includes Drs. Judith Kulig, Michelle Hogue, and Olu Awosoga from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, and Dr. David Olsen from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. Working together with the Aboriginal community in southern Alberta, this cross-disciplinary team will examine how a range of factors - including adverse childhood experiences, poverty, unemployment, single parenthood, living in overcrowded housing and racial discrimination - impact the stress response and biological functioning among Aboriginal adults living in the Lethbridge area.

The U of L study will commence October 2013 with results expected in 2016-17.

CURE event connects researchers to community

trevor.kenney — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 16:32:03 +0000

It's not quite speed dating, but the idea is similar.

On Friday, Mar. 22, the Office of Research & Innovation Services (ORIS) team will host its first Community/��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Research Exchange (CURE) event where they are looking to do some relationship building between community groups and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers.

Researchers often experience barriers when trying to involve external partners in their research programs.

The CURE event aims to reduce those barriers by bringing community partners and U of L researchers together to talk with, and learn from, each other at a one-day open house.

A broad cross-section of external community groups and partners are attending the event, which will take place in Markin Hall.

The event will feature keynote speakers with extensive expertise in the transfer of research outcomes to the public domain, displays and posters that highlight research outcomes of U of L faculty and graduate students, a series of short talks from researchers and community group representatives, plus a networking reception where those who attended CURE can interact face-to-face.

"In the current funding environment, events like this are vital to sustaining funding levels and growing research programs," says Dr. Lesley Brown, the U of L's associate vice-president (research) and a kinesiology researcher who, with her students and colleagues, has developed a number of productive and successful community-based research partnerships.

"We are already working quite successfully with a number of community organizations across all Faculties and in the School of Graduate Studies," says Brown.

"We expect that this event will provide an opportunity for our faculty and students to communicate with even more people, and make more connections. This will increase their accessibility to community members interested in participating in future research projects."

Federal granting agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research (SSHRC), as well as provincial funders such as the Alberta Innovates corporations, are seeking the involvement of external partners in funding applications.

"It is becoming imperative that universities become proactive in engaging the local, provincial and national communities in their research programs."

One way to make this happen, says Brown, is to gather as many people as possible, let them talk with colleagues and community representatives so that they can learn about the various ways they can work together.

"As part of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Strategic Plan (2009-2013), the institution has named building internal communities and enhancing relationships with external communities as one of the major strategic directions," says Brown.

"We have taken this priority to heart, and we want to have as many people as possible join us for our event."

Hunting and gathering in the casino

trevor.kenney — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 15:02:50 +0000

Study looks at how human evolutionary history may dictate decision-making in activities of chance

Humans, for survival reasons, are designed to react and make decisions within the context of their surroundings.

In the real world this serves people well. In artificial, random environments, like those associated with gambling, a person's inherent desire to react to past experiences is a fruitless exercise.

In a recent study published by Frontiers in Psychology, researchers from McMaster ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge and Liverpool John Moores ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ suggest that betting decisions made by gamblers may be linked to the basic attention inhibitory processes used by early humans for their search activities (i.e. food).

Dr. Dan Weeks, a psychology researcher at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, says humans tend to inhibit their responses to targets which they have already responded to. In other words, humans have evolved to modify their behaviour based on what they experience in certain locations.

"Humans make rational decisions on a day-to-day basis based on experience. Think about someone picking apples in an orchard. Once the apples from the first tree are picked, it is a rational decision to move on to the next tree," says Weeks. "We decided to undertake this study to see if there was a correlation in an artificial environment like a casino. How do gamblers react if they win? What about if they lose?"

Researchers conducted two experiments to test this theory.

First, participants were asked to take part in a reaction test in which one of two targets was illuminated. The lighting of these targets was random but participants were able to react to lights after the fact. Researchers then gave the participants two dollars worth of nickels and asked them to bet on the outcome before the targets were illuminated. Researchers found that participants maintained the amounts of their bets regardless of whether they won or lost. But in instances where they won, they were more likely to move their bets to the other target for their next wager.

In a second test, participants took turns undertaking the same test with a partner. As was the case in the initial experiment, players maintained the amount of their bets regardless of whether they won or lost. What was interesting is that after observing their partner guess right on a certain target, participants were more likely to move on to the next target when their turn came.

Lead author, Dr. Jim Lyons, a kinesiology researcher at McMaster ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ notes that there are several exciting implications resulting from the study.

"The results suggest, perhaps for the first time, that certain aspects of problem gambling behaviour may be related to basic, neurobiological factors that drive the orienting of attention," says Lyons. "Of even greater interest perhaps is how this relationship is strongest in social settings where watching whether another person wins or loses influences how you bet."

Co-author Dr. Digby Elliott comments that "these are also important findings because they suggest that, at least in some cases, these behaviours might be resistant to current behavioural intervention strategies."

The research team plans to continue this research by looking at how this sort of behaviour may change as people age,, since there is considerable evidence to suggest that problem gambling can be particularly acute in elderly populations.

The Frontiers article can be found at http://www.frontiersin.org/Cognition/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00072/full

Connecting researchers and community

trevor.kenney — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:18:03 +0000

It's not quite speed dating, but the idea is similar.

On Friday, March 22, the Office of Research & Innovation Services (ORIS) team will host its first Community/��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Research Exchange (CURE) event where they are looking to do some relationship building between community groups and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge researchers.

Researchers often experience barriers when trying to involve external partners in their research programs.

The CURE event aims to reduce those barriers by bringing community partners and U of L researchers together to talk with, and learn from, each other at a one-day open house.

A broad cross-section of external community groups and partners are going to be invited to participate and attend the event, which will take place in Markin Hall.

The event will feature keynote speakers with extensive expertise in the transfer of research outcomes to the public domain, displays and posters that highlight research outcomes of U of L faculty and graduate students, a series of short talks from researchers and community group representatives, plus a networking reception where those who attended CURE can interact face-to-face.

"In the current funding environment, events like this are vital to sustaining funding levels and growing research programs," says Dr. Lesley Brown, the U of L's associate vice-president (research) and a kinesiology researcher who, with her students and colleagues, has developed a number of productive and successful community-based research partnerships.

"We are already working quite successfully with a number of community organizations across all Faculties and in the School of Graduate Studies," says Brown.

"We expect that this event will provide an opportunity for our faculty and students to communicate with even more people, and make more connections. This will increase their accessibility to community members interested in participating in future research projects."

Federal granting agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences & Humanities Research (SSHRC), as well as provincial funders such as the Alberta Innovates corporations, are seeking the involvement of external partners in funding applications.

"It is becoming imperative that universities become proactive in engaging the local, provincial and national communities in their research programs."

One way to make this happen, says Brown, is to gather as many people as possible, let them talk with colleagues and community representatives so that they can learn about the various ways they can work together.

To achieve this goal, ORIS is currently seeking volunteers from all areas of the academic community, including graduate students, to share the outcomes of their research or details regarding their current and future programs at CURE.

"As part of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Strategic Plan (2009-2013), the institution has named building internal communities and enhancing relationships with external communities as one of the major strategic directions," says Brown.

"We have taken this priority to heart, and we want to have as many people as possible join us for our event."

To register as a participant, from either the faculty, student or external community, those interested are asked to e-mail oris@uleth.ca with subject: CURE.

If you have any questions, regarding CURE, please contact
Penny D'Agnone in the ORIS at penny.dagnone@uleth.ca or phone 403-382-7198.

UNews - kinesiology researcher

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