Singapore, Singapore
16/04/2012 – 17/04/2012
Hilton Singapore
BACKGROUND
There has been increasing attention given to the role of nutrition in brain and cognitive development and functioning. ILSI SEA Region held a Symposium on Nutrition and Cognition - Towards Research and Application for Different Life Stages in October 2010 to review the influence of diet and nutrition on the cognitive development in early life, and on cognitive decline in later life. At the symposium, it was recognized that the assessment of cognitive functioning is central to the study of such topics. In nutrition intervention or assessment studies, frequently there has been a failure to demonstrate a beneficial influence of changes in diet or nutrition status. A possible reason is that studies have failed to acknowledge the time scale over which diet has an impact. For example, in infant and young children, one needs to consider the stages of brain and cognitive development and critical ages when diet is particularly influential for the particular cognitive domains. Diet may also have a slow and progressive influence making it difficult for short-term studies to show an improvement.
The appropriate use of cognitive assessment that can measure subtle changes due to nutritional influences is very crucial. There is no “one size fits all” cognitive battery that can be used in nutrition intervention studies, rather assessment tools need to be tailored to the target groups and research needs. Advances in technology have brought forth neurological assessment tools such as brain imaging, electrophysiology, etc, capable of monitoring brain development process. These tools, coupled with psychological cognitive assessment, have been successfully used to measure the effect of some nutrients on the development of specific cognitive domains. As cognition and nutrition are complex subjects in themselves, let alone combined together, collaboration and sharing of expertise between nutritionists, psychologists and cognition scientists are very important for research in this area.
The Seminar on Nutrition and Early Cognitive Development and Workshop on Assessment of Cognitive Development for Infants and Young Children are organized as a follow-up and recommendation from the previous Symposium on Nutrition and Cognition. It is hoped that the seminar and workshop could provide better understanding on the stages of brain and cognitive development in early life, the potential nutrients that could make an impact at these critical period of development, and how to assess these effects, as well as provide a forum for sharing of experience and expertise between the different groups of scientists in the region, so as to facilitate research and collaboration in this important area.
SEMINAR OBJECTIVES
- To outline the role of nutrition in brain development and in different domains of cognitive functions of the fetus, infant and young child, at their specific developmental periods
- To share the application of neurocognitive assessment techniques in identifying domain-specific developmental periods in the Southeast Asian setting
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
- To share and discuss the application of psychological and neurological cognitive assessments for measuring the impact of nutrition on cognitive development in infants and young children
- To provide a platform for sharing of experiences and addressing challenges faced among psychologists, as well as nutrition and cognition researchers currently working or interested to work in the area of nutrition and cognition in infants and young children in the Southeast Asia region
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
Researchers, academia, dietitians, nutritionists, food industry personnel, government and regulatory officials, and those who wish to be updated on the current information on the role of nutrition and early cognitive development.
PROGRAM
To download the program, click here.
SEMINAR REPORT
To download the seminar report, click here.
REGISTRATION
Registration fees are:
- Industry Participants (Seminar only) - SGD 200 / pax
- Industry Participants (Seminar and Workshop) - SGD 450 / pax
- Government/Academic Participants (Seminar only) - SGD 150 / pax
- Government/Academic Participants (Seminar and Workshop) - SGD 300 / pax
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ILSI SEA Region
9 Mohamed Sultan Road #02-01, Singapore 238959
Tel: (65) 6352 5220, Fax: (65) 6352 5536
Email: ilsisea@singnet.com.sg