Researchers at
Harvard University's Wyss Institute and
Harvard's Personal Genome Project (PGP) are partnering with
Luminosity to better understand the relationship between memory and DNA. The goal of the study is to identify genetic factors that can help in developing treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, by identifying individuals having exceptional memory, attention, and reaction speed.
Yingleong Chan, PhD, postdoctoral fellow of George Church's lab at Harvard Medical School, has reached out to the American Go Association to find go players who are interested in participating in being participants of the PGP and participating in this PGP-Lumositygenomics research study. Participants will be asked to complete six games aimed at evaluating memory, attention, and reaction speed. Participant test scores will then be grouped to identify exceptional performers. People that perform well on the games will have the opportunity to identify their genome sequence in order to construct experimental models to form new hypotheses related to the characteristics of neurodegenerative disorders. Through this study, the PGP hopes to better understand efficient memory functions in order to further research Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders.
Click
here for more information, including instructions on how to enroll in the study.
- edited by Brian Kirby