Torch 2021 Autumn.qxp_Torch 21 Autumn 2021-11-04 1:43 PM Page 16
THE BRAIN ISSUE
Diagnosis on the Double UVic neuroscientist Olav Krigolson, BEd ’97, PhD ’08, is investigating a mobile test to rapidly flag cognitive impairment—potentially leading to diagnosis years earlier than current practice. BY JENNY MANZER, BA ’
UVic neuroscientist OLAV KRIGOLSON at his lab on campus.
O
lav Krigolson is not afraid to celebrate his nerd origin story. In his TEDx talk, the UVic neuroscientist speaks about his love of comic books, his childhood yearning for X-ray vision glasses and hours spent watching Star Trek. But he disagrees with the sci-fi show’s premise, voiced in the opening credits, that space is the final frontier. “I believe the brain is the final frontier,” he says in the talk, posted in May of this year. After completing an Education degree at UVic, Krigolson became so captivated by the potential of the brain that he
UVIC TORCH AUTUMN
ditched plans to teach high school and coach basketball and went back to the books, earning his PhD at UVic. Since then, he has delved into the possibilities of decoding the brain’s signals to better understand how it works and what happens when it’s not performing well. He does this by measuring brain activity using a mobile EEG (electroencephalogram) device. These devices can take the form of glasses or a headband—all readily available for purchase at electronic stores. Krigolson then creates algorithms to find the associations between the EEG findings and certain brain conditions. In other
MICHAEL KISSINGER
