Global Health Spotlight: Noelia Calvo
Noelia Calvo (she/her), Ph.D. fellow and researcher in the Psychology Department, York University. Her current research area is memory and the relationship between bilingualism, brain plasticity, cognitive research with the brain and neurological memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s, and dementia that impact huge damage to the brain as neurologically.
How did you become interested in research regarding diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, and Parkinson’s?
It was during my undergraduate studies that drove my interest in learning more about neurological disorders. I was studying linguistics and researching what happens in the brain when a person speaks more than one language. At the same time, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and I was living with her. So, I started reading a lot about dementia and also got to know more about the course of the disease. I got my first degree as a Linguist but then decided to do a PhD in Psychology and research the role of bilingualism in neurological disorders.
Subjects like one's culture or language are not often tied to diseases in our society. How should we go about introducing the general public to culture/language-specific risk factors?
This is a very important question. Culture and language have been largely overlooked in dementia research- this has led to inequalities in the healthcare system worldwide. There are many factors that impact our health (e.g. childhood experiences, education, ethnicity, etc.). I focus on language, culture and biological sex because I believe these factors shape our brains in a unique way. Thus, addressing these individual differences might help us understand specific risk factors for neurodegeneration.
How would you explain the differences between differing cultures' traditions, routines, and habits regarding their risk factors for such neurodegenerative diseases?
The key concept to understanding these relationships is that of plasticity. For instance, language is arguably the most unique architecture of the human brain. Language learning reorganizes our brains and leads to brain plasticity- language is also a key source of cross-cultural variability. Neurodegenerative diseases also lead to plasticity. Santiago Ramón y Cajal referred to brain plasticity as a change in function within a specific neural substrate that can be triggered by either experience or cell death. Thus, our life experiences that promote plasticity and the plasticity conferred by neurodegenerative diseases can be thought of as two sides of the same coin.
Bilingualism is often a topic of discussion amongst neuroscientists. What makes bilingual individuals such interesting research subjects in the field of neuroscience?
Bilingualism sculpts our brains in a unique way. Bilinguals have two linguistic systems that are active at the same time in the brain and that compete for selection at several linguistic and cognitive processing levels. In order to control two active systems in the brain, bilinguals get very good at focusing attention on relevant information and shifting attention as needed. It is a type of exercise that keeps our brains healthy. Moreover, this attentional control plays a key role in cognitive decline with aging. Bilingualism might enhance cognitive reserve- the brain’s capacity for resilience throughout healthy and pathological aging.
What are some interesting fun facts you have come across regarding neurocognition throughout your research?
The study of the human brain is fascinating and I keep on learning more about it every day. Our brains are super plastic and resilient! - Our brains are specifically wired to cope with problems and change according to different demands. This fact never ceases to amaze me because it reflects our nature and evolution as human beings. It is also a reminder that we can rewire our brains. In cases of mental illnesses, such as depression or anxiety, we have the tools to build stronger neural connections that alter depressive or anxious neural circuitry.