NEUROSCIENCE DAY University of Pretoria

9 May 2013

www.up.ac.za

Institute for Cellular & Molecular Medicine

Room 5-64, Level 5, Pathology Building t) +27 (0)12 319 2179 (sec) Prinshof Campus, University of Pretoria t) +27 (0)12 319 2190 (direct) Gezina, Pretoria 0001, South Africa e-mail: michael.pepper@up.ac.za

9 May 2013

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the University of Pretoria Neuroscience Group, I would like to extend a very warm welcome

to you on this, the 4th UP Neuroscience Day.

As the neurosciences move to co-occupy center stage with rapidly evolving developments in cellular and

molecular medicine, researchers at UP, through their involvement in several facets of the neurosciences

both from a basic research and a clinical perspective, continue to ensure that work in this exciting and

highly relevant area is well represented at our Institution.

On behalf of the Management/Organizing Committee, I would like to thank Prof Ralf Clauss from Royal Surrey County Hospital, United Kingdom and Prof Justin Kennedy from UGSM-Monarch Business School, Switzerland for making the effort to come to Pretoria specifically for this event. We would also like to thank the invited speakers who have come from elsewhere in the country, as well as the University of Pretoria colleagues, for their indispensable contribution to this Day. We would also like to thank Prof. Stephanie Burton, Vice Principal: Research and Post-graduate Education, for agreeing to open the proceedings.

Sincere thanks are due to Peet du Toit (organizer of the UP Neuroscience Day), Vangi Henning, Michael

Kleynhans and Christa Kruger for having done everything possible to ensure the success of this 4th UP

Neuroscience Day in 2013. I would also like to thank Elna Venter for assisting us with the transfer of the

administration to CE at UP.

And finally, a warm thank-you to our sponsors, whose generosity and belief in our vision have made this

4th UP Neuroscience Day possible.

We warmly welcome you and hope that you will enjoy the day.

Yours sincerely,

Michael S. Pepper MBChB (UCT), PhD (Geneva), MD (Geneva) Director, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine Professor, Dept. Immunology, Faculty of Health Sciences

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Neuroscience Day

Sponsors

07:30 Registration Session 1 (Chair: Prof. MS Pepper)

08:15 Opening Prof Stephanie Burton (Vice-Principal, University of Pretoria)

08:30 Guest speaker 1 Prof Fourie Joubert University of Pretoria

The role of genomics and bioinformatics in neuroscience

09:05 Speaker 1 Dr M Potgieter University of Pretoria

Oxidative stress in quadriceps muscles of dysferlin-deficient SJL/J mice is ameliorated by antioxidant supplementation

09:20 Guest speaker 2 Prof Christa Krüger University of Pretoria

The neurophysiology of dissociative mental states

09:55 Guest speaker 3 Prof Robert Millar University of Pretoria

Novel hypothalamic neuropeptides targeting hormone-dependent diseases

10:30 Tea and poster viewing

Session 2 ( Chair: Prof. Mike Sathekge)

11:00 Guest speaker 4 Prof Helgard Meyer University of Pretoria

Chronic pain – a neuroscience perspective

11:35 Speaker 2 Dr HW Nel Family Practice, Springs

A video overview of the last 14 years, since the incidental and miraculous discovery of Stilnox for brain injuries

11:50 Speaker 3 Dr NE Nyakale Pretoria Academic Hospital

Clinical case reviews of zolpidem responders after brain damage

12:05 Guest speaker 5 Prof Ralf Clauss Royal Surrey County Hospital United Kingdom

Disorders of Consciousness: Oxygen based neurotransmitters and pharmacological interventions

12:40 Speaker 4 Gerda Venter University of Limpopo

Variation in the course of the superior sagittal sinus at the confluence of sinuses – an investigation of skull specimens in a South African population group

12:55 Finger lunch

Session 3 ( Chair: Prof. C Krüger )

13:50 Guest speaker 6 Prof Jannie Ferreira University of Johannesburg

Skill acquisition and visual information processing

14:25 Guest speaker 7 Prof Justin Kennedy UGSM-Monarch Business School, Switzerland

Comparison of Benefits Gained From Hand-Held Neuro-Biofeedback Technology for Improved Achievement in Teenage School Students over Exam Periods in South African Private Schools

15:00 Speaker 5 Prof Johan Hanekom University of Pretoria

Cochlear implants: activation of natural pitch extraction mechanisms

15:15 Speaker 6 Prof Tania Hanekom University of Pretoria

Cochlear implants: quantifying user-specificity in peripheral neural responses

15:30 Speaker 7 Ariana van Heerden Tshwane University of Technology

Brain waves at play

15:45 Tea and poster viewing

Session 4 (Chair: Dr. P du Toit )

16:15 Poster 1 S Raman The effect of sport specific exercises on the visual skills of rugby players

16:20 Poster 2 H Gwenhure Visual skill performance of university students

16:25 Poster 3 G Kalmeier Neurocognition and testosterone levels in adults participating in contact sports – The effect of concussion

16:30 Poster 4 P Jansen van Vuuren; N Soupen; K Khuzwayo; M Venter; C Fourie

A retrospective case-study to determine the efficacy of Zolpidem in neurologically impaired patients to improve brain functioning and mental cognition

16:40 Poster 5 SN Mostert Psychological factors that impact on non-compliant medication use amongst patients diagnosed with hypertension

16:45 Poster 6 Dr CC Grant Heart rate (HR) vs. Heart rate variability (HRV) as indicators of cardiac health and fitness

16:50 Poster 7 NH Jacobs Cognitive Neuroscience paves the way to believable green screen acting

16:55 Closing Prof MS Pepper 17:00 End of Neuroscience Day 2013

Programme Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Pretoria

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Neuroscience Day 2013

Guest speaker profiles Abstracts are published exactly as received from the submitting authors. The opinions and views expressed are those of the authors and have not been altered by the Neuroscience Research Group. The Neuroscience Research Group accepts no responsibility for the statements made or the accuracy of the data presented.

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Prof Fourie Joubert

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa fourie.joubert@up.ac.za Brief Biography

Fourie Joubert obtained his PhD in Biochemistry in 2000, and is currently the Director of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Unit. He has published around 34 papers, and has worked extensively in malaria drug development. He is currently focusing his research in genomics, and particularly in the field of genome variation in South African breast cancers.

Prof Christa Krüger Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria; and Specialist Psychiatrist and Head of a Clinical Unit at Weskoppies Hospital, Pretoria. MBBCh (Wits); MMed(Psych)(Pret); MD (Warwick); FCPsych(SA) Christa.Kruger@up.ac.za Brief Biography

Prof Krüger is jointly appointed between the University of Pretoria (Department of Psychiatry) and Weskoppies Hospital, a specialist psychiatric hospital. Her doctoral research was conducted at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, on dissociation – an unconscious protective psychological process for managing overwhelming traumatic experiences, which involves a loss of awareness and control over the connections among one’s mental processes. Her ongoing research focuses on clinical, psychosocial, neurophysiological, and cultural aspects of dissociation. She has also developed a state scale of dissociation that has been translated and used internationally for studying treatment outcome, as well as for the neurophysiological changes that occur in the brain during dissociative states. An NRF-rated researcher, and member of the Board of Directors and the Scientific Committee of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD), Prof Krüger has also served as research supervisor to many successful psychiatry registrars, as well as doctoral candidates.

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Prof Robert P Millar

Director of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria, Director of the MRC

Receptor Biology Unit at the University of Cape Town and Research Fellow at the Centre of

Integrative Physiology at the University of Edinburgh

robertpetermillar@gmail.com

Brief Biography

Broad training, an extensive publishing history and a large patent portfolio have placed Professor Robert Millar at the forefront of Health and Medical sciences in areas such as biochemistry, neuroendocrinology and cancer research. His work has not only broken new ground in understanding human and animal physiology, but also led to new treatments for cancer and other diseases. Prof. Millar obtained his BSc and MSc in chemistry and biochemistry from the University of London, and his PhD in reproductive physiology from the University of Liverpool. He completed his MRCPath and FRCPath from the Royal College of Pathologists in London. His broad training, which includes chemistry, zoology, biochemistry, physiology, clinical endocrinology, reproductive biology and more, has stood him in good stead not only as a researcher but as a mentor for PhD students. His work has made major impacts in areas of human reproduction, hormone replacement and the treatment of disease such as cancer. His recent research has focused on gonadotropin-releasing hormones (GnRH), pioneering the discovery of GnRH prohormones and novel GnRHs. His group participated in a collaborative effort for the first cloning of the GnRH receptor and the discovery of GnRH subtypes. As a result, great strides have been made in the development of anti-cancer drugs. Furthermore, he has been involved in successfully taking eight drugs into the clinic for treating diseases such as prostatic cancer, endometriosis, infertility, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Prof. Millar has worked as Associate, full Professor and Dean of Research in the Medical Faculty at the University of Cape Town for 30 years. He was then appointed as Director of the Medical Research Council’s Human Reproductive Sciences Unit at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently Director of the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria and Director of the UCT/MRC Receptor Biology Group. He has also held the position of Chair and Fellow at UCT. He was founder of the Reproductive Health Company, Ardana Biosciences which took four drugs into the market, and consults extensively with companies in the pharmacology and biotechnology sectors. Among his many awards, Prof. Millar has received the Wellcome Gold Medal, the Oppenheimer Gold Medal, and is a Geoffrey Harris Laureate and Ernst and Berta Scharrer Laureate. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of South Africa. Prof. Millar has an extensive publishing track record with more than 350 papers in publications such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Endocrinology. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Neuroendocrinology and has served on the Board of a number of international journals. He holds 18 patents and has presented numerous plenary and keynote lectures at local and international conferences. His work has received more than 11 000 citations and maintains an H-index of 54.

Prof Helgard P Meyer

MBChB(Pret), MPraxMed(Pret), MFGP(SA) FCFP(SA), Department of Family Medicine, University of

Pretoria

Helgard.Meyer@up.ac.za

Brief Biography

Helgard Meyer is the Clinical Head of the Department of Family Medicine at Kalafong Hospital. He obtained his under- and postgraduate qualifications at the University of Pretoria and received a number of academic awards. He has a special interest in chronic pain and has presented many papers at local and international congresses and conferences, mostly on chronic pain disorders. He serves on advisory boards for various organizations in the healthcare industry and is the author/co-author of more than 70 medical publications. His research interest in chronic pain ranges from the integration of the basic neuroscience of pain into clinical practice through to epidemiological studies. He currently receives an extramural grant with a research group to identify novel genetic biomarkers associated with pain sensitivity in fibromyalgia and related pain disorders, which could be developed towards imaging markers for diagnostic purposes. He is an independent reviewer for various international pain journals and is a past-President of Pain South Africa. He is a longstanding member of the International Myopain Society and the International Association for the Study of Pain and is also a Pain SA Council member.

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Prof Ralf Clauss

Consultant Physician, Nuclear Medicine, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, UK. MBBCh (University of Pretoria); MMed (Nuclear Medicine) (Medical University of South Africa); MD (University of Düsseldorf, Germany)

claussrp@yahoo.com Brief Biography

Professional Registration General Medical Council, United Kingdom. GMC specialist register: Nuclear Medicine Memberships FRCP (London) Selected publications Nyakale NE, Clauss RP, Nel HW, Sathekge MM. Blood Brain Barrier integrity in a

zolpidem responder patient.S Afr Med J. 2012, 31;102(10):790-1.

Nyakale NE, Clauss RP, Nel HW, Sathekge MM. Clinical and Brain SPECT scan response to zolpidem in patients after brain damage. Arzneimittel Forschung. 2010, 60 (4): 177-81.

Hall SD, Yamawaki N, Fisher AE, Clauss RP, Woodhall GL, Stanford IM. GABA(A) alpha-1 subunit mediated desynchronization of elevated low frequency oscillations alleviates specific dysfunction in stroke--a case report. Clin Neurophysiol. 2010, 121(4):549-55.

Clauss RP, Nel HW. Drug induced arousal from the permanent vegetative state. NeuroRehab 2006, 21(1): 23- 28.

Clauss RP, Sathekge M, Nel W. Transient improvement of Spinocerebellar Ataxia with zolpidem. N Engl J Med. 2004, 29, 351(5): 511-2.

Clauss RP, Güldenpfennig WM, Nel HJ, Sathekge MM, Venkannagari RR. Extraordinary arousal from semi-comatose state on zolpidem: A case report. SAMJ 2000, 90(1): 68- 72.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/zolpidemtherapy/home

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Prof Jannie Ferreira

Academy of Sports Vision, Department of Optometry, University Of Johannesburg, South Africa

jferreira@uj.ac.za

Brief Biography

Prof. Jannie T. Ferreira matriculated in Windhoek, Namibia and then obtained a B Sc B Sc Hons (Cum Laude), M Sc (cum laude) and Ph D in Physiology as well as a Post Graduate Teacher’s Diploma before obtaining his B Optom (cum laude). These were all obtained at the Rand Afrikaans University. Since then he has also completed the CAS-course with NEWENCO (Boston, USA) and a fellowship programme with IACLE. (FIACLE). He is currently also a member of the European Council for Sport Science.

He has presented papers at numerous international conferences and his research has taken him to universities and other institutions all over the world. He also spent six months in Israel as visiting researcher at the Universities of Bar Ilan and Tel Aviv.

Among the many awards he received are the South African Anglers Associations gold medal for his research on freshwater fish and the Abe Bailey Trust Award for leadership. He was also conferred the Melvin Jones Fellowship, which is the highest honor conferred by the Lions Club International Foundation. He has furthermore been awarded with the rank of officer in the Order of St. John. These honors were conferred for Prof. Ferreira’s commitment to community service in Optometry and in particular for the establishment of the Eye Care Train (Phelophepa). The Optics 1993 prize was also awarded to him for the Eye Care Train concept.

He is the past-president of Optometric Educators of South Africa, a founder member of the Association of African Optometric Educators, and past-president of the International Association of Contact Lens Educators for Africa and the Middle East. He is also a director of St. John’s Ophthalmic Foundation and past director of the South African Optometric Association. He has been the Head of the Department of Optometry at the Rand Afrikaans University from 1990 to 1999 and took up this responsibility again with the newly formed University of Johannesburg in 2008. He was also a member for the Professional Board for Optometry and chairman of the Education Committee of this board. Prof. Ferreira is also a member of the International Academy of Sports Vision and established the Academy of Sports Vision at the Rand Afrikaans University in 2001 and continues to do so within the University of Johannesburg. The prime objective of this academy is to do research and train post graduate students.

He is the author or co-author of more than 120 scientific papers and gave guidance to 54 post-graduate students. His research interests are in the field’s children with learning and reading problems, community optometry and sports vision and sports coaching.

He has been a rugby sports administrator for 25 years and retired from rugby administration in 2009. During this time he served on the MANCO and Presidents Council of South African Rugby and also as President of the Golden Lions Franchise. He also served as Chairman of the Committee responsible for the appointment of the Springbok coach and other national coaches.

Since 2000 he served on the High Performance Committee of SISA and later the South African Sports Commission and with the creation of SASCOC he was moved to the Coaching Commission and is currently the Chairman of the Interim Coaching Standards Group responsible for creating a framework for coaching qualifications.

Neuroscience Day 9 May 2013

Prof Justin Kennedy

Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Regional Dean of Africa, UGSM-Monarch Business School, Switzerland justin@kennedy.co.za; justinjameskennedy@gmail.com

Brief Biography

Dr. Justin Kennedy holds the position of Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Regional Dean of Africa at UGSM-Monarch Business School Switzerland. He holds a Doctor of Professional Studies with UGSM-Monarch Business School Switzerland as well as a Bachelor of Social Science in Psychology from Rhodes University, SA. He is also a member of the Council of the Psychological Society of South Africa. Dr. Kennedy returned to the academic field after a 20 year international corporate career in Ireland, New York and South Africa. During his corporate career he was instrumental in: Planning, structuring and executing strategic initiatives resulting in numerous

successfully developed international human resource projects.

Establishing himself as an industry expert in the area of Organisational Neuroscience, Personal Excellence and Mastery.

Developing globally the first technology of its kind for the reduction of stress related pathology towards improved cognitive performance.

Developing the NeuroStressFit programme which has been published to not only reduce stress within the work environment, but showed clinical and occupational evidence of improved cognitive functions.

Dr Kennedy humbly advocates what Gandhi saw as education as being a method of social reconstruction that would improve both individuals and their society: “Only the educated are free.” – Gandhi

Room 5-64, Level 5, Pathology Building t) +27 (0)12 319 2179 (sec) Prinshof Campus, University of Pretoria t) +27 (0)12 319 2190 (direct) Gezina, Pretoria 0001, South Africa e-mail: michael.pepper@up.ac.za

Institute for Cellular & Molecular Medicine

Thank you for attending our UP Neuroscience Day 2013 and for helping

to make this day a huge success.

Dr Peet du Toit

Head: UP Neuroscience Group

Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine

Department of Physiology

Peet.dutoit@up.ac.za