Neuroscientists to Explain the Brain
Albany, March 10 – State Health Department scientists and others who explore the workings of the brain are planning public lectures to explain how this three–pound structure of 100 billion nerve cells functions, and sometimes malfunctions.
The programs, scheduled for March 18 and 20, feature local members of the Society for Neuroscience who are participating in a nationwide public awareness campaign to promote an understanding of the personal and public benefits of brain research. Neuroscientists have learned more about the brain and nervous system in the past decade than they have in the previous century. Their research has expanded our knowledge of Alzheimer's disease, autism, spinal cord injuries, epileptic seizures, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy and other disorders that threaten life or the quality of life.
In recognition of the nearly 2,000 members of the Society who conduct research in New York State, Governor George E. Pataki has declared March 17–23, 1997 as Brain Research Week.
"Scientists at New York's state universities, private colleges, medical schools and public and private research centers are at the forefront of many of the most promising efforts to understand the brain, alleviate pain and suffering and reduce the cost of neurological diseases," the Governor's proclamation states.
At the Health Department's Wadsworth Center Laboratories, neuroscientists are studying the genetic basis of neurological disorders, the effects of drugs of abuse on the developing nervous system, communication channels for the severely disabled, mechanisms of repair for brain and spinal cord damage, and fundamental processes that occur across all brain functions.
Wadsworth neuroscientists will discuss the brain and its disorders at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, at the David Axelrod Institute, 120 New Scotland Avenue, Albany. Topics are: "Graying Matter: Age and the Brain," "Spinal Cord Injury: New Hope" and "Genes, Disease and the Brain." Also featured will be neuroscience posters and displays by brain–related community health organizations, including the Center for Disabled, the Alzheimer's Association, the Epilepsy Association and the ALS Regional Center.
On Tuesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. Society for Neuroscience members from Albany Medical College will hold a panel discussion on the brain and drugs at the Huyck Auditorium, Albany Medical College, 47 New Scotland Avenue, Albany. Topics are: "Abused Drugs in the Brain: Where the Action Is"; "Opiates, Pain Relief and the Brain"; "Drug Abuse, Pregnancy and the Developing Brain"; and "Drug Treatments for Drug Addiction."
According to the Society for Neuroscience, brain and central nervous disorders are the country's leading cause of disability and account for the majority of long term care costs.
3/11/97–24 OPA
