 |
|
|
|||||||
|
|
||||||||
      |
|
||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
||||||
|
|||||||||
 |
Neuroscience:
Our capacity to laugh, to imagine, to create, to remember, to connect — these are the qualities that define our humanity and give meaning to our lives. And there may be no diseases crueler than those that steal our humanity away.
Today, one in five Americans suffers from a debilitating neurological disorder such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or chronic pain. The irony is that as medical advances allow us to live longer, the likelihood increases that a neurological disease will deny us our independence, our productivity, and our capacity to enjoy all of life's richness. Mental illness can be equally damaging to those affected and those who care about them, and the stigmas that have long been attached to such diseases as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia have slowed progress in combating them.
Better measurements
for movement disorders
If we are to better understand and treat movement disorders like Parkinson's disease, we first need a way to more precisely measure how these conditions affect patients differently.
Previously neurologists used subjective scales that rated a patient's behavior, mood, motor function, and response to therapy. Yet "moderately impaired" to one physician could easily be "severely impaired" to another.
Helen Bronte-Stewart, MD, MSE, assistant professor of neurology and neurological sciences and, by courtesy, of neurosurgery, and director of the Comprehensive Movement Disorders Center, has invented a better way. Together with colleagues in computer science and engineering, she is developing sophisticated computerized motion capture technology for measuring repetitive finger and limb movements, and unstable posture. From objective measurements, she believes, will come more effective treatments and new hope for patients.
The economic costs to society are tremendous: more than $1 trillion a year. The emotional costs to those who are afflicted by these diseases and their families are immeasurable.
At the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford (NIS), a community of talented scientists, physicians, and engineers are committed to a single mission: to relieve, and one day prevent, the suffering that stems from nervous system dysfunction and mental illness. Toward this end, we are marshalling our resources in a multitude of disciplines, from biology and neurology to radiology, psychiatry, and genetics, in an effort to reveal the genetic, molecular, and cellular processes of the brain so that we can better understand what happens when things go so terribly wrong — and then translate those discoveries into revolutionary treatments for people in need.
New Enterprises
Through the creation of unique affiliations within the NIS, we aim to find the keys that will unlock the secrets of brain structure and function, and through the development of multidisciplinary teams, we intend to solve the basic science and clinical challenges that disorders of the brain and nervous system present.
Multidisciplinary Teams
Institute teams, comprising 150 faculty members from the university's schools of engineering, humanities and sciences, law, and business in addition to the medical center, aim to build on Stanford's success in creating new knowledge at the interface between disciplines.
Scientists and clinicians are pooling their tremendous skills and diverse scientific perspectives in a concerted effort to discover the causes of neurodegenerative diseases as well as the wide range of mental health disorders. As they work to apply breakthrough insights to the development of techniques for early diagnosis and more effective therapies, they use observations from physicians to refine additional investigations back in the lab.
Aiming for Better Odds
The brain is an extraordinarily complex, even miraculous, organ. Disorders of the brain and nervous system are correspondingly complex and, as a result, can exact immense suffering. Yet we are confident that our work will one day give us the ammunition to dramatically change the odds in our fight against the diseases that threaten to diminish the best parts of ourselves.
