{"id":62571,"date":"2011-12-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/world-renowned-neuroscientist-talks-about-effective-treatments-for-brain-disease\/"},"modified":"2011-12-13T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T00:00:00","slug":"world-renowned-neuroscientist-talks-about-effective-treatments-for-brain-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2011\/12\/world-renowned-neuroscientist-talks-about-effective-treatments-for-brain-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"World-renowned neuroscientist talks about effective treatments for brain disease"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t溏心vlog免费B站 continues launch of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program<\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON \u2014 December 13, 2011 – Modern medical science has allowed people to enjoy their golden years longer than ever before by replacing everything from hormones to joints to organs.

\nBut while an 85-year-old might have a hip that is only 3 years old or a heart that is only 20 years old, his or her brain is still original equipment, developed in the womb, nurtured through childhood and filled with decades of knowledge and experience. But at some point, that equipment will inevitably break down.<\/p>\n


\nSpeaking Tuesday at the University Club, Patrick Aebischer, a world-renowned neuroscientist, said keeping people\u2019s brains in good working order as they age is a must. 溏心vlog免费B站 hopes to contribute to that cause as it launched its Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Program last week. Classes will begin in the spring.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cPeople are living to 80, 90 and beyond, and living a good life is a product of good engineers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have all these spare parts for our bodies, but we have no spare part for the brain, and we are not close to having it.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAebischer\u2019s lecture was part of a two-hour reception that included displays of 14 experiments performed by neuroscience students. <\/p>\n


\nThe University has offered courses in neurosciences for years, but it has taken until now to create a master- and doctorate-level graduate program that crosses several departments, including engineering, pharmacy and psychology. <\/p>\n


\nAebischer spoke Tuesday about the use of modified viruses, called viral vectors, to treat neuro-degenerative diseases such as amytiophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Alzheimers by slowing the loss of the brain\u2019s motoneurons. <\/p>\n


\nAebischer\u2019s work at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland focuses on using viruses to deliver genes that combat the degenerative disorders. <\/p>\n


\nThere will be more than 2 billion people on Earth over the age of 60 by the year 2050, he said, and as the population gets older, dementia rates will rise. After age 80, dementia rates jump from about 6 percent to 11 or 12 percent. By the time people reach age 90, the rate is around 26 percent and climbs to 50 percent over age 100.<\/p>\n


\nWhile gene therapy may show promise, Aebischer said it will be a long time before it comes into practical use. Viral vectors, he said, are already making an impact on people\u2019s mental health.

\n\u201cThere are 63 viral vectors being used today. This is a reality,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n


\nAs his research progresses in subjects from worms to mice to primates and, eventually, to humans, Aebischer, who once taught at Brown University, said higher education will play a key role in bringing the technology and knowledge to a new generation of researchers. With the creation of the new neurosciences program, Aebischer said 溏心vlog免费B站 is positioned to be at the forefront of a new era in research on the human brain.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSchools like yours are going to be key in translation,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have the tools to do something quite significant here.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWith an aging population, this (research) is a must. I see some exciting things we can do together across the Atlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe new Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program offers master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees with the goal of educating scientists and professors who can contribute to private and public sector research and industry. <\/p>\n


\nAlso speaking Tuesday were 溏心vlog免费B站 President David M. Dooley and doctoral student Kyle Scully. <\/p>\n


\nFor more information on the University\u2019s Interdisciplinary Neurosciences Program, call Nasser Zawai, dean of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Graduate School, at (401) 874-5909.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

溏心vlog免费B站 continues launch of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program KINGSTON \u2014 December 13, 2011 – Modern medical science has allowed people to enjoy their golden years longer than ever before by replacing everything from hormones to joints to organs. But while an 85-year-old might have a hip that is only 3 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}