Lifebrain at the Oslo Science Expo

Lifebrain exhibited at the Oslo Science Expo last week (21st-22nd September), as part of the National Science Week in Norway (Forskningsdagene). This is a nationwide event held every year to make science and research available to the public.

Omega 3 DBS tests at the Oslo Science Expo

We demonstrated the omega 3 fatty acid analysis with the Dried Blood Spots, and had an interactive brain quiz using Kahoot!

The dried blood spot test developed by Vitas, consists of a small piece of paper with circles on it. All that is required is a few drops of blood from the prick of a fingertip. People of all ages were interested in doing the test to find out how much omega 3 fatty acids they have in their blood, and they didn’t seem to mind the prick! They received a personal code that they could use to find out the result on the Vitas website in about a week.

Just a drop of blood on a paper

People could also test their brain health knowledge in the Kahoot! quiz. People answered with their phones and the result came up on a screen. They learned, for example, that the brain of a 12 years old weighs 1300 grams, and that the brain uses 20 % of the body’s total energy!

The Lifebrain/LCBC tent was quite popular

The new research project of the coordinator of Lifebrain (Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition), named "Set to change" was also present. The name of the project refers to the fact that our ability to learn and remember varies widely across individuals and changes much through life. The main aim of Set-to-change project is to identify how early life environmental and genetic factors restrict and promote neurocognitive plasticity (the ability of the brain to change in response to the environment) through life. An exciting intervention will be implemented in this research: younger and older twin participants will undergo a memory training in a Virtual Reality environment, where they need to navigate to certain places by using their memory. Visitors of the tent got a hands-on experience of this unique project: with the help of a VR bike and setup they spent 1-2 minutes in a virtual town and had to find their way to a specific place. Young and old were all fascinated by the special VR environment.

See you next year!

Published Sep. 28, 2018 11:30 AM - Last modified Sep. 30, 2019 4:22 PM