Mira Goldstein

Videogames that help cure Alzheimer disease (AD)? Crowds of interactive gamers mapping the brain? In their quest for new discoveries in brain research, innovative investigators are developing games that harness the power of crowdsourcing.

Cornell University’s Schaffer-Nishimura lab is one such group. They study the intersection of clogged, or 

, capillaries and the progress of AD. They use animal models to evaluate the efficacy of potential treatments by analyzing the stalls (capturing images of capillaries in the brains of mice quickly), but analyzing this data takes time.

Enter the gamers. With the assistance of the Human Computation Institute, the Schaffer-Nishimura lab created Stall Catchers. Gamers aged 6 to 88, or catchers, navigate a set of training images provided by the lab, determine whether the capillary is flowing or stalled, and then compare their response to those of the researchers. There are approximately 30,000 volunteers helping to analyze the lab’s images.

Stall Catchers demonstrates the power of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing unleashes a lab’s research potential by tapping into a scientific-minded community of volunteers. Aside from increasing the volume of analysis, volunteers check the quality of each other’s work.

Other labs are also using crowdsourcing to accelerate their research. For example, a video game called 

, created by Princeton University’s Seung Lab, calls upon volunteers to map neurons in the brain, in the hopes of eventually mapping the entire brain.

, a game created by McGill’s center for Bioinformatics, asks volunteers to match colors corresponding to base pairs of genetic sequences,

 which helps identify specific genes involved in diseases like breast cancer. Like Stall Catchers, these games are user-friendly, fast-paced tools to engage citizen scientists. The crowdsourcing approach accelerates research, expands the volume of analysis, and includes a larger crowd in scientific discovery.

is from Evanston, IL. She is 16 years old and has contributed several reflective pieces for

1. Human Computation Institute. Stall Catchers. 2019. Accessed June 23, 2021. 

2. EyeWire. A game to crowdsource brain mapping. Accessed June 23, 2021. 

https://www.citizenscience.gov/eyewire-brain-mapping/#

3. Kawrykow A, Roumanis G, Kam A, et al. Phylo: a citizen science approach for improving multiple sequence alignment.

Articles

How can volunteering to play video games help brain research?

Crowdsourcing Brain Research: The Power of Volunteers

As the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases continues to rise, schools around the country begin to question the pros and cons of in-person hybrid schooling versus online-only education. To address these issues, my school devised protocol emphasizing the use of face masks and shortened, in-person school days. The school also forbids any physical contact, including high-fives and hugs. Any violation results in the student being restricted to remote learning for a specified period of time.

I feel safe at school. Since the start of school in September, I have not seen anyone without a face mask. There have only been 5 cases of 

 among the 500 students, and those cases did not result in further infections in other students, demonstrating the rules’ effectiveness.

We only have 4 hours of in-person learning per day. Yet, my school extended advisory and club meeting times from 20 minutes to an hour. This extra time has afforded opportunities for underclassmen like myself to seek advice from upperclassmen.

Advisory groups allow students in different grade levels to connect and share on a meaningful level. During the election, we discussed civil discourse in response to the presidential debates. We discussed the process of truly listening to each other, instead of forming an argument while the other talks.

Listening and sharing became common themes this school year. For example, the Black Student Union created an educational Instagram account. In addition, the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance club suggested ways to support our peers on Coming Out Day. Another 18 student-led clubs provided opportunities for students of all grade levels to interact. Some clubs shared service opportunities or means to take much-needed mental health breaks, like the Walking Club. This year the emphasis on building community has increased club involvement, which has helped so many of us. The clubs follow the school’s COVID-19 guidelines while strengthening our school community.

The strict safety regimen and efforts to bring the student body together have made this year less

. Although these guidelines physically separate us, being at school with friends and teachers unites our community. I believe schools mirror the society we live in. Let us work to protect and bring together the people in our own communities during the pandemic to truly improve our well-being.

is from Evanston, IL. She is 15 years old and has contributed several reflective pieces as a young adult for the Coronavirus Chronicles series.

An insider’s look at how balancing COVID-19 safety protocols and affording teens a safe space to interact and bond has made this challenging year less daunting.

How 4 Hours Can Make a Big Difference: A Successful High School During the Pandemic

The protests following the death of George Floyd inspired the organization Freedom Lifted to sponsor a “History of Policing” class

 This organization supports Black communities while also teaching history and politics to educators and children.

 I took this policing class in June and early July of this year. Since all classes were online, about 500 students could attend from all around the United States. We were able to discuss current events and the previous lesson in small “break out groups” on Zoom. My history classes had not covered the development of law enforcement, and I had never discussed topics of race and policing in groups before. I did not know how our police system evolved until I stumbled upon this class. 

The development of American law enforcement

In the North, the police originally served to divide classes and protect wealth. The police defended wealthy people from the less advantaged. In the South, slave patrols were the first form of policing. These groups cruelly punished enslaved Black people. After slavery was abolished, a new form of policing oppressed former enslaved people: The Black Codes. These allowed white people to criminalize Black people as a way to keep them in manual labor. The rise of the KKK and later the Jim Crow Laws restricted the freedom of Black Americans.

 The foundations of policing reflect our raciallydivided society. Although there have been many advances, racial bias and profiling are still prevalent today.

The role of police officers has also expanded, and they are often first responders to persons with mental illnesses. For crime, the police may investigate and arrest. However, for a case involving a mental health crisis, the police can do more harm than help. For example, a man named Eddie Lee Johnson had been a patient in a few mental institutions. According to 

, in 1981, Eddie was holding a knife and started charging at the officers around him. An officer felt threatened and fatally shot Eddie.

 Officers are taught to shoot when threatened, so this response was justified from a legal perspective. However, Eddie’s death may have been avoided if mental health counselors had been on the scene. Later, Houston would pass reforms to better protect the lives of persons with psychiatric disorders.

 Even with these reforms, jails today hold more people with mental health issues than hospitals do.

It is also dangerous for police officers to handle these cases. Moreover, it is much more expensive to incarcerate persons with mental illness than to properly treat them in mental care facilities. Since the 1970s, around 170 police officers died at the hands of persons with mental illness.

 To better protect our police officers, we may want to redistribute some of the roles police play in our society to better-qualified health care professionals.

The need for more emergency response medical workers mirrors the needs in cases of domestic violence. The pandemic trapped victims with no escape from their abusers.

 The unstable economy, the pandemic’s stresses, and the close quarters of quarantine drove abuse rates up.

 A report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics noted that “female victimizations (24%) were four times as likely as male victimizations (6%) to go unreported due to fear of reprisal.” An estimated 110,000 cases in total were unreported because of fear.

 Police may also not be the best responders for abuse cases. Instead of emphasizing the arrest of the abuser, we should focus on the psychological distress of the victim. Domestic violence should be handled by psychologists or psychiatrists and assisted by police only as needed.

Sometimes we speculate, “I would never do something like that if I were in that situation.” Humans try to heroize themselves, prompting such a self-serving statement. When officers panic, they may reach for their guns. Our instincts for self-preservation are very persuasive. Unfortunately, race may influence an officer’s decision in heat of the moment. Because of racial biases, racial training for our police is vital to a safer community. Training, as well as more awareness of instances of police violence, and more professionals to respond instead of the police, would help build a more humane society. These problems stem from the policing system, not from the officers themselves. Many risk their lives and join the police to protect our communities.

Ultimately, the police system is a reflection of the society we choose to live in. Let’s build a police system that protects everyone.

is from Evanston, IL. She is 15 years old.

1. Core Values. Freedom Lifted. 2018. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://www.freedomlifted.com/about-civil-rights-tours-values

 staff. < American Police. NPR. Published June 4, 2020. 

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/869046127

3. Mental Patient Killed in Houston After Confronting Group of Police. 

 Published December 15, 1981. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/15/us/mental-patient-killed-in-houston-after-confronting-group-of-police.html

4. Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. A Guide to Understanding Mental Health Systems and Services in Texas, 3rd ed. 2016. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://hogg.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Mental-Health-Guide-2016.pdf

5. Earley P. Mental illness is a health issue, not a police issue. 

 June 15, 2020. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/15/mental-illness-is-health-issue-not-police-issue/

6. United Nations. COVID-19 response. Domestic Abuse: How to respond? Accessed August 7, 2020. 

https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/domestic-abuse

7. Taub A. A New Covid-19 Crisis: Domestic Abuse Rises Worldwide. 

. April 6, 2020. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html

8. Reaves BA. Police Response to Domestic Violence, 2006-2015. Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. U.S. Department of Justice. May 2017. Accessed September 18, 2020. 

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/prdv0615.pdf

The role of police has expanded from law and order to first responder, mental health intervention, and other duties others may be better qualified to fulfill.

What I Learned About the Police During the Pandemic

                                                                 -Series Editor: H. Steven Moffic, MD

I started easing back into more regular social interactions after the pandemic restrictions relaxed; with that came inevitable anxiety. Days after connecting with friends, I would worry about a temporary cough or a fluctuating temperature. Many may remember quarantine as a halt to the economy and a period of isolation. Nevertheless, many opportunities for connection have presented themselves in the past few months, particularly a developing closeness within my family.

Though I rarely saw my grandparents in person during the pandemic, I have treasured our daily phone calls. Within my own home, I have 

with my brother and my busy parents in a more meaningful way. As our communities slowly open up, valuable time with family seems to be diminishing.

While quarantine gave me more time to spend with my newly employed father, his full-time schedule shortened our time spent studying, biking, and playing board games. As many of us return to our former routines, we might experience the same sense of withdrawal from our families.

The unexpected gift of time we had to do things together in 

may also disappear. During quarantine, I began to wake up at 7:30 each day to take a morning bike ride with my father. Using the mornings allowed my father to start work at 9 and still left time in the evening to spend with me.

While I fear all the work toward family amity will lessen, we will make a concerted and conscious effort to nurture that closeness in our family. Even with fewer opportunities to spend time with my family, I hope to sustain the relationships the quarantine strengthened.

A teen writes about the unexpected gift of time the quarantine afforded her and her family.

Pandemic Transitions

Recently, a family of owls nested behind my house. An unfamiliar neighbor approached me and pointed them out. This simple interaction scared me; it had been around a month since I had talked to anyone in person other than my family because of COVID-19. From the first, I did not enjoy the owls’ presence; they reminded me of the uncomfortable interaction with my neighbor. However, I realized the local owls had come to symbolize hope in our community.

Even though the owls were smaller than I expected, they seemed to loom over our alley. They would perch for hours in the trees, then suddenly disappear. I had never seen them up close until I saw one fly past my window. I noticed how large the owl actually was. I saw the intricate pattern of its feathers and its pointy, commanding ears.

The owls started to attract crowds of admirers in the alley. Seeing so many people congregated together was strange after weeks of isolation. I wanted to see the owls up close myself, but I chose to avoid the alley. The observers were not distancing themselves from each other. Seeing the birds from my window reminded me of the confinement I felt, and my own isolation.

I had often met my neighbors outside; that changed with the pandemic. My next-door neighbor, entranced by the owls, reached out to talk. We initially reunited online and soon started talking outside again. Without the owls, I would not have reconnected with my friend. Having someone to talk to during a stressful time helps relieve the anxiety of the pandemic. I miss many things in quarantine: my friends, sports, extended family, and especially, socializing outside with my neighbors. Although the owls kept their distance, they brought me closer to my friend.

. At first, they reminded me of my withdrawal from the community. I now realize that they strengthened the ties within our neighborhood. They attracted residents from all over my town. Sharing a love of these winged visitors brought optimism to a community facing the pandemic. Instead of dwelling on our distress, we shared a common interest we may have overlooked if not in quarantine. The owls sparked a community-wide fascination with the inconspicuous joys of nature.

Sharing a love of these winged visitors brought optimism to a community.

The Owls: A Reminder There is Hope

 has changed every part of my life. As I see masked faces walking alone across crowded streets, I wonder if people will ever feel safe again. As challenging as it is to be optimistic during a pandemic, I try to be grateful for what I have. I think of what makes me feel safe during this stressful time. This year, Mother’s Day allows us to thank the mothers who help their children feel protected.

During this time, being able to communicate about the coronavirus is vital to a child feeling safe. Just by looking outside, it is clear that our world has changed. Discussing COVID-19 with my family helped me feel more in control of the situation. We shared what we feel comfortable doing as a family, instead of each of us individually creating our own boundaries.

Our family guidelines were not clear during the beginning of quarantine. Observing my brother socialize with neighbors increased my nervousness. After discussing with my family, we were able to create a solution everyone agreed with. I realized my brother needs social interactions. He agreed to stay six feet apart and always carry hand sanitizer. My mother led this discussion. She knew I needed it to feel safe.

Online learning and homework only occupy a portion of the day. My mother makes time each day to spend with me. While riding our bikes, I see other mothers and their children together. Seeing this loving connection between mothers and children reminds me that COVID-19 is not powerful enough to break that special bond. This Mother’s Day will allow us to thank mothers’ efforts to help their children feel safe.

As we see masked faces walking alone across crowded streets, this young teen wonders if people will ever feel safe again. "Mother’s Day allows us to thank the mothers who help their children feel protected," she says.