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A forum on animal rights, organized by students, took place Monday night at Lake Oswego High School. Most of the discussion centered on the issues of animal research, specifically the research conducted at OHSU's primate center (the Oregon National Primate Research Center). The first speakers were two representatives of OHSU, public relations rep. Jim Newman and primate researcher Dr. Judy Cameron. Cameron specialized in reproductive science and neuroscience at ONPRC. Cameron chose to focus her presentation Monday night on one of her current research projects in order to explain the process of animal research, how a study is developed and carried out. Cameron is studying the link between exercise and brain function. She explained that she began this particular study with the knowledge that people who exercise have better brain function. More study is needed though, she claimed, because we need to know if other lifestyle factors might be involved in this phenomenon (for example many people who exercise also don't smoke). In order to explore this connection she has some of her test monkeys run on tread mills and others are forced to be sedentary. She then conducts cognitive tests on the monkeys and compares the performances of the two groups. The shocking truth revealed by these studies is that the monkeys who exercise perform better on the tests! She says these monkeys are "more alert and more engaged" than the ones denied exercise. This leads her to conclude that (as was known at the beginning of the study) that exercise is good for the brain. (While she has apparently affirmed this foregone conclusion, she failed to explain how this study can teach us something new about the effects of lifestyle on human brain function. The lifestyle of these monkeys consists of living alone in barren, 2 feet x 2 feet cages in a laboratory in completely artificial situations, and they are of course monkeys, not people.) Related Features:
[ Animal Rights Vigil at OHSU President's Home | OHSU Bio-terror lab- Public Meeting Reports | OHSU Primate Center Expanding - Letters Needed! | Blowing the Whistle on Lab Coat Welfare ] [ Coalition to Abolish Animal Testing | In Defense of Animals | Pdx-IMC animal rights topic page ]
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