Brain, Nerve, and Muscle Health | Minnesota Medical Foundation

Neurosciences News

2013-05-10T18:08:47Z

Spring 2013

Connecting the dots

With donors’ support, University researcher pursues the causes of neurodegeneration behind Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

Don’t be mistaken: Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are distinct neurodegenerative diseases. Both involve the death of neurons, but the primary cells affected are different. But as scientists are learning more about Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, they’re discovering that the diseases’ pathological pathways in the brain have much more in common than was previously believed.

Company’s gift supports integration of psychotherapy treatments for adolescents and young adults facing mental illness

It seems that psychotherapy research has taken a backseat to pharmaceutical research in recent years. After all, it’s comparatively easy to quantify the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals: count the milligrams, measure the drug in the blood, and then correlate the data to an outcome. But some, including Stephen Setterberg, M.D., are concerned by this trend.

With better diagnosis and treatment methods in mind, U takes part in study to identify biomarkers for Parkinson’s

Parkinson’s disease, a movement disorder that affects the central nervous system, is diagnosed in more than 50,000 Americans every year. Yet there is no test for diagnosing it or for predicting its progression.

Epilepsy care options expand through integration of physician groups

The epilepsy programs of MINCEP© and University of Minnesota Physicians have integrated, expanding epilepsy care options for patients throughout Minnesota.

New gene-sequencing technology gives patients answers faster and at a much lower cost

When Apple, Inc., cofounder Steve Jobs paid $100,000 to have his DNA sequenced in a bid to outrun the pancreatic cancer that ultimately claimed his life, he was just one of 20 people in the entire world to have had it done. But for the general public, the benefits of DNA sequencing, which has been both time-consuming and costly, have remained largely unattainable. Until now.

Does psychosocial distress elevate your risk of stroke?

Older Americans dealing with high levels of psychosocial distress are at higher risk for stroke, according to a University of Minnesota study.

U foundations merge to better serve donors

The boards of the University of Minnesota Foundation and the Minnesota Medical Foundation voted on Jan. 23 to merge into a single entity. The merger is designed to better serve University donors by providing one voice for private giving at the U and ensuring greater operational excellence in gift administration.

About Neurosciences News

Neurosciences News is published by the University of Minnesota Foundation. Reader comments and suggestions are welcome. Contact the editor directly at 612-626-1941 or nendres@umn.edu.

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Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Big Ten Network shines spotlight on U Alzheimer's disease research

2013-05-09T14:42:11Z

The Big Ten Network highlighted U scientist Karen Hsiao Ashe, M.D., Ph.D., for her world-renowned work in Alzheimer’s disease research. Watch the video.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Connecting the dots

2013-05-08T16:07:51Z

With donors’ support, University researcher pursues the causes of neurodegeneration behind Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

Don’t be mistaken: Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are distinct neurodegenerative diseases. Both involve the death of neurons, but the primary cells affected are different.

In Parkinson’s disease, most of the killed-off cells are responsible for physical movement. The disease’s most common symptoms, therefore, are motor-related: tremors, stiff muscles, poor balance, and difficulty walking, sitting, or standing.

In Alzheimer’s disease, the destroyed cells are mainly responsible for memory and cognitive skills. Thus, the disease’s key characteristic is gradual cognitive decline, including a devastating loss of memory.

But the two conditions—the most common neurodegenerative illnesses in the United States—do share some hallmark features. Dementia occurs in up to 80 percent of people who have Parkinson’s disease. And many people with Alzheimer’s lose motor function, including their ability to walk, especially toward the end of the illness.

In fact, as scientists learn more about Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, they’re discovering that the diseases’ pathological pathways in the brain have much more in common than was previously believed. One of those commonalities is the abnormal behavior of the alpha-synuclein protein.

Through his renowned research on this protein, University of Minnesota neuroscientist Michael K. Lee, Ph.D., is deepening our understanding of how neurons die in both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

This novel work is pointing to new avenues of therapies that may one day slow or even stop the progression of these two debilitating diseases, which together affect as many as 6 million Americans.

“In both Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, the brain just starts dying off,” says Lee, who is codirector of the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, part of the Institute for Translational Neuroscience at the University. “We need to stop that if we’re going to have an impact on the progression of the diseases. We have to go beyond just trying to treat the symptoms and get to the underlying processes.”

A personal interest

Susan and David Plimpton understand on a personal level the urgent need for such research, which is why the couple has made a gift to support Lee’s work. Susan, a former consumer marketing executive, and David, a semi-retired internal medicine physician (and 1966 University of Minnesota Medical School alumnus), also have set aside additional funding for the research in their estate plans.

“I have several family members on my mother’s side who died with severe dementia, and David’s father had Parkinson’s disease with severe dementia,” says Susan Plimpton, who leads a neurosciences development advisory committee for the University of Minnesota Foundation.

Lee’s research “just hit on all cylinders, so to speak, for us,” she adds. “It has the possibility of leading to some important discoveries that might help prevent or manage these diseases more effectively than we do today.”

When a protein turns toxic

Alpha-synuclein is a major constituent of Lewy bodies, the abnormal protein clumps that have long been known as a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. The protein also becomes abnormal in Alzheimer’s disease. Its precise role in the brain and in the pathology of these diseases is unclear, however.

One of the places alpha-synuclein resides in neurons is an area outside of the nucleus known as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The ER functions like an assembly line, synthesizing and “packaging” proteins into folded shapes that enable them to perform specific functions in the cell. If the folding of the proteins is not done correctly, however, the proteins become useless—or, worse, toxic.

Usually, nature takes charge and fixes the problem proteins. Those that are unfolded or misfolded are “caught” and either re-folded or destroyed by proteins called chaperones before they can harm the cell. But as the brain ages, incorrectly folded alpha-synuclein molecules may gather into small toxic clumps called oligomers. Over time, the oligomers may form even bigger clumps, an outcome that can “gum up the entire assembly line of the cell,” says Lee.

The “stressed” ER tries to clean up troublemaking proteins by sending out more chaperones, but if that response is inadequate, explains Lee, “the cell activates a self-destruct mechanism that leads to its death.”

In 2012, Lee and his colleagues were the first to report an association between high levels of alpha-synuclein oligomers and the breakdown of the ER. They found this association both in mouse neurons and in neurons in postmortem human brains.

“We observed it in Parkinson’s disease,” says Lee. “But what we found may also have relevance for Alzheimer’s disease.”

That’s because research suggests that ER stress—the condition triggered by these accumulating toxic clumps—is involved in Alzheimer’s disease as well as in Parkinson’s disease.

Further evidence

To test whether the association he found between ER stress and alpha-synuclein oligomers is an important factor in the death of neurons, Lee teamed up with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to treat mice that model human Parkinson’s disease with salubrinal, an experimental drug that protects cells against chronic ER stress.

“We found that the treated mice were able to survive [without symptoms] for a much longer time,” he says.

In yet another experiment, this time conducted with researchers at the Brain Mind Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland, Lee’s colleagues gave salubrinal to rats that model human Parkinson’s and that have dopamine neurons targeted for death from alpha-synuclein. (Dopamine is a brain chemical critical for coordinating movement, and the loss of dopamine neurons is the major reason for the onset of Parkinson’s.) Once again, the salubrinal dramatically reduced the toxic effects of the alpha-synuclein protein.

Although salubrinal may one day become a good candidate for neurodegenerative therapies, it’s not currently approved for use in humans. Lee and his colleagues are testing other promising drugs, including one already used to treat high blood pressure, in animal models to see whether those compounds also will relieve ER stress.

Lee emphasizes that although the findings from his lab suggest new therapeutic targets, the research is at an early stage. Still, he’s hopeful.

“We need to have a better understanding of the underlying reason the symptoms of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases occur,” he says, “so that we can actually help people live longer and have a better quality of life. It’s a big issue—and one that affects not only the individuals who have the disease, but their families as well.”

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Because with your support, anything is possible.

A more hopeful future

2013-05-08T16:06:11Z

Company’s gift supports integration of psychotherapy treatments for adolescents and young adults facing mental illness

S. Charles Schulz, M.D., head of the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, and Stephen Setterberg, M.D., president of PrairieCare, a Twin Cities psychiatric treatment services company, say that they’re concerned by this trend.

But psychotherapy research has “progressed tremendously over the past 10 to 20 years,” Setterberg says, “and there is quite a bit of empirical support now for a variety of the psychotherapy approaches that are commonly used.” He believes psychotherapy should play a bigger role in psychiatric practice in general.

“I think that something very precious is lost without that dimension of practice,” he says.

This belief led Setterberg to commit $200,000 to the University to support research in integrative treatment methods, especially those involving psychotherapy, for adolescents and young adults. Setterberg, who received his undergraduate and medical school degrees from the University, says that he hopes the Integrative Treatment Research Fund he’s creating through his company will help to improve the lives of young people living with mental illness.

PrairieCare’s focus on children and adolescents is one reason that the gift is targeted to youth mental health. Another is Setterberg’s belief in the importance of early intervention.

“Brain development is very intensive throughout childhood and adolescence, even up to age 25 or so,” he says. “Because of this, effective psychological and behavioral interventions with younger people are both more likely to show results and to have lasting benefit.”

PrairieCare is an official training site for child psychiatry fellows and medical students at the University, a relationship that Setterberg says he feels brings the excellence of the University into his organization.

“The gift is a kind of reciprocity for that,” he says. “It’s a reflection of how we value that relationship.”

Schulz says the potential impact of the work that will be funded by PrairieCare’s gift is significant.

“It can lead us to provide better care,” he says. “We know that the need to better understand how to best treat children and adolescents, how to best structure and utilize the psychosocial treatments, is crucial. I’m just delighted with our affiliation with PrairieCare and its generosity.”

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

With better diagnosis and treatment methods in mind, U takes part in study to identify biomarkers for Parkinson's

2013-05-08T16:05:25Z

The University of Minnesota is participating in a new research study called BioFIND that’s focused on identifying Parkinson’s disease biomarkers to ultimately help find better ways of diagnosing and treating the condition.

The University is one of five sites chosen by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research for this groundbreaking two-year study.

A biomarker is a substance, process, or characteristic that is associated with the risk or presence of a disease, or one that changes over time with disease progression. Reliable and consistent biomarkers allow scientists to predict, diagnose, and monitor diseases and can be used to help determine which medications work and which do not.

There is currently no known Parkinson’s biomarker, according to Paul Tuite, M.D., principal investigator for the University’s portion of BioFIND and an associate professor in the Department of Neurology. That’s why, he says, even though there have been numerous drug trials for Parkinson’s disease in the past 10 to 20 years, the current crop of drugs being tested doesn’t appear to be stopping or reversing damage to the central nervous system; instead, today’s drugs help to manage symptoms.

Tuite says BioFIND is a particularly promising study because it involves collecting and analyzing spinal fluid, which, because it surrounds the brain and other parts of the central nervous system, could provide a host of useful information.

Tuite and his colleagues plan to focus their work on the presence of antioxidants, DNA variants, and various proteins in the blood and spinal fluid of study participants, who will include both Parkinson’s patients and healthy volunteers. And he’s optimistic about the road ahead.

“The goal is to help better diagnose patients, better predict their course,” Tuite says.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Epilepsy care options expand through integration of physician groups

2013-05-08T16:04:09Z

The epilepsy programs of MINCEP© and University of Minnesota Physicians have integrated, expanding epilepsy care options for patients throughout Minnesota.

Founded at the University in 1964, MINCEP was the first comprehensive epilepsy center in the United States and has since served as a model for epilepsy centers across the world. It is designated as a Level 4 epilepsy center by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers.

With MINCEP’s return to the University, the integrated MINCEP and UMPhysicians team is a regional leader in the field. The partners are bringing the best of two worlds together to provide comprehensive epilepsy care, including:

Exceptional patient experiences and outcomes through coordinated care and advanced capabilities, specifically in pharmacology, diagnostics, and surgery;
Specialized programs for unique patient populations, such as children and older adults; and
Expanded medical research opportunities through the University’s state-of-the-art facilities.

Learn more at www.umphysicians.org/Clinics/mincep.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

New gene-sequencing technology gives patients answers faster and at a much lower cost

2013-05-08T16:03:12Z

But for the general public, the benefits of DNA sequencing—which has been both timeconsuming and costly—have remained largely unattainable. Until now.

A new technology called next-generation sequencing (NGS), previously used in research studies but rarely for clinical diagnostic tests, is now being used in clinics affiliated with the University of Minnesota. It can test large numbers of very specific genes simultaneously and at a significantly reduced cost.

Already at the University of Minnesota Ataxia Center, NGS is helping clinicians diagnose dozens of forms of rare ataxias.

“The big technical advance is the capability of focusing the sequencing power,” says Matthew Bower, M.S., C.G.C., the Ataxia Center’s genetic counselor. “Rather than distributing it across 3 billion letters of the genome, you can focus it on a set of target genes.”

As Bower explains it, this targeting allows for a considerably shorter “diagnostic odyssey” for patients. In the past, diagnoses were ruled out one gene at a time, a process that for some patients would take decades. Using NGS, the process typically takes about two to three months.

NGS makes gene sequencing more accessible, too. The process once cost $1,000 to $2,000 per gene, and with tens of thousands genes in the human genome, the price was far out of reach for most people. But NGS typically costs between $1,500 and $4,000 total, Bower says, depending on how many genes are analyzed.

“We’re looking at hundreds of genes for the price of what it used to cost to look at a single gene,” he says.

Ataxia Center director Khalaf Bushara, M.D., says many of his patients are glad to have a definitive diagnosis, even if there’s no clear-cut treatment option. That’s particularly true if there’s a hereditary component to their disease, he says.

“They want to plan to have kids. Is it dominant or recessive?” he says. “Some patients just want to know.”

NGS is being used at other University-affiliated specialty clinics that treat patients for inherited genetic diseases and cancers, as well, says Bower, including the ophthalmology, otolaryngology, pediatrics, hematology-oncology, and blood and marrow transplant clinics.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Does psychosocial distress elevate your risk of stroke?

2013-05-08T16:02:43Z

Older Americans dealing with high levels of psychosocial distress are at higher risk for stroke, according to a University of Minnesota study.

Psychosocial distress is broadly defined as internal conflicts and external stress that prevent a person from self-actualization and connecting with others. It can include depression, stress, and a negative outlook.

For this study, University researchers followed more than 4,000 people aged 65 and older through the Chicago Health and Aging Project. They measured psychosocial distress using four indicators: perceived stress, dissatisfaction with life, neuroticism, and depressive symptoms.

Those people who had the most psychosocial distress had three times the risk of dying from stroke and a 54 percent increased risk of being hospitalized for the first time compared with those who had the least amount of distress in their lives. The risk of distress also climbed with age.

The research, published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, noted that the impact of psychosocial distress on stroke risk did not differ by race or gender.

“People should be aware that stress and negative emotions often increase with age,” says lead researcher Susan Everson-Rose, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate director of the Medical School’s Program in Health Disparities Research. “Family members and caregivers need to recognize [that] these emotions have a profound effect on health and that it’s important to pay attention when older people complain of distress.”

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Retraining the brain

2013-04-29T19:55:27Z

U plasticity lab helps kids and adults recover from stroke and other disabling conditions

By Susan Perry

On a chilly Minnesota evening last December, 16-year-old Tiffany Cowan sat uncomplainingly in Room 242 of the University of Minnesota’s Masonic Memorial Building as two graduate students from the University’s Brain Plasticity Laboratory carefully attached a series of wires to her scalp and right arm.

Cowan, with the consent of her parents, had volunteered to participate in one of the lab’s studies, which was examining the safety of using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a treatment for children with congenital stroke. tDCS is a type of painless, noninvasive brain stimulation that delivers a low (battery-powered) and persistent current to specific areas of the brain through small electrodes. experimental studies have suggested that it may help adult stroke victims regain some function of their limbs. This is among the first to investigate whether it may help children, too.

Tiffany, who suffered a stroke either before or during birth, has limited use of the right side of her body. Although the lithe, blonde teenager leads an active life, including playing the violin (like nearly all violinists, she bows with her right hand and does the more demanding finger work with her left), she’s eager to participate in research that might enable her to have more muscle control of her stroke-damaged hand.

She’d particularly like to write with that hand.

Lead researcher Bernadette Gillick, P.T., Ph.D., hovered maternally around Tiffany as the graduate students prepared the young woman for the tDCS stimulation. Gillick spoke to Tiffany constantly, putting her at ease as she explained everything the graduate students were doing.

“You’re my eleventh subject in this study,” she quipped. “That’s why your nickname is C-11.”

Tiffany smiled.

Eventually, all the electrodes were secured on the correct areas of Tiffany’s capped head, and the actual experiment began. The graduate students switched on the tDCS machine, being careful to hide the device’s controls from both Tiffany and Gillick. This was a double-blinded controlled study, which meant that half the children were being randomly assigned to a “control” group that received a pretend, or sham, treatment. To ensure the integrity of the study’s results, it was important that the children and Gillick, who would be interpreting the data, didn’t know which child was in which group.

“How do you feel?” Gillick asked.

Tiffany smiled again. “Fine,” she answered. “It just feels a bit like my hair is being pulled.”

Exploring new territory

Understanding how the brain reorganizes itself after a stroke or other brain injury is the overall mission of the Brain Plasticity Laboratory. Located in the Children’s Rehabilitation Center on the University’s East Bank campus, the decade-old lab is engaged in a variety of fascinating — and often unique — research using various brain stimulation, rehabilitation, and imaging techniques. Findings from this research are not only enabling scientists to gain deeper insight into how the injured brain restructures itself, but they are also pointing to promising new therapies that may help children and adults recover lost function after such an injury.

“There are only a couple of other labs that I’m aware of around the country that are doing some of the things that we’re doing here,” says James Carey, P.T., Ph.D., who codirects the lab with Gillick and Teresa Kimberley, P.T., Ph.D. In fact, he adds, the Brain Plasticity Laboratory may be the only one using a special dual type of brain-priming technique in its studies.

There’s urgency to this area of research. Stroke affects about 795,000 American adults each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the nation, and it costs the country an estimated $54 billion annually in health care services and lost productivity.

Focal dystonia, another major focus of the lab’s research, also has a devastating effect on many people’s quality of life. Tens of thousands of Americans have this neurological movement disorder, which causes specific sets of frequently used muscles, such as those in the hands, feet, or throat, to involuntarily contract and form unnatural positions. Current treatments are often short-lived and ineffective. Read more about focal dystonia.

“If we could develop a reliable, effective intervention for these conditions,” says Kimberley, “we would have a profound effect on many people’s lives.”

Retraining the brain

The term plasticity (which comes from the Greek word plaistikos, meaning “to form”) refers to the brain’s ability to change its structure and function as a result of new learning and experiences. Until the 1960s, scientists believed that after childhood the brain became a static organ, unable to create new pathways among its 100 billion cells, or neurons. But thanks in large part to advances in brain imaging technology, it’s now known that the brain is constantly reorganizing those pathways. In fact, the adult human brain is even capable of creating new neurons, a process called neurogenesis.

The knowledge that the brain can be retrained to regain lost function has led to the development of a wide range of plasticity-based behavioral therapies. Today, patients who have experienced a stroke or other brain injury are prescribed rigorous and repetitive physical exercises or tasks in order to “rewire” their damaged brain. For stroke patients, this rehabilitative therapy usually begins 24 to 48 hours after the stroke.

“Traditional therapies are effective,” says Carey. “They do help. But given the magnitude of the stroke lesions in some people, they may just not be enough.”

A newer idea, he explains, is to use tDCS or a similar technology called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to “prime” the brain so it will be more receptive to the effects of behavioral therapy.

“If we can adjust the brain to be more responsive to behavioral therapy, we might get better results,” Carey says.

Other laboratories in the United States and elsewhere are also investigating the uses of brain stimulation as an adjunct to traditional stroke therapies, but the University’s Brain Plasticity Laboratory is taking that concept one step further.

“We’re doing priming of the priming,” explains Carey.

The battle of the hemispheres

To understand how brain-stimulation priming helps stroke patients, you have to first understand how a stroke injures the brain and how, in a somewhat surprising way, the brain responds to that injury. The most common type of stroke damages the brain by interrupting blood flow to the neurons. Without oxygen in the blood, the cells in the immediate region of the stroke begin to die within a few minutes.

Strokes tend to occur on one side, or hemisphere, of the brain’s cerebrum, the largest part of the brain. Located in the top and front section of the skull, the cerebrum is responsible for movement, speech, thinking, memory, the regulation of emotions, and other functions. The hemispheres, which are connected by a thick band of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum, specialize in different functions. When it comes to movement, each hemisphere controls the muscles on the opposite side of the body.

The goal of all stroke rehabilitation therapy is to restore function to the weak side of the body. Achieving this outcome is challenging — and not only because of the damage in the stroke hemisphere. After a stroke, the cells in the nonstroke hemisphere respond in a way that compounds the problem: They become more “excitable.” This exaggerated excitability inhibits healthy cells in the stroke hemisphere from rewiring themselves to regain lost muscle function.

“It’s maladaptive,” explains Carey. “Some have called it a double disablement. As if the stroke weren’t bad enough, the patient gets a disablement from the extra inhibition coming from the other hemisphere.”

Double priming the brain

The University’s Brain Plasticity Laboratory, along with a handful of other labs around the world, has demonstrated in experimental studies that rTMs and tDCS brain stimulation can suppress the inhibitory behavior of the non-stroke side of the brain, thus “priming” the stroke side to be more receptive to behavioral therapies. The University’s lab is unique, however, in having also discovered that low-frequency (inhibitory) stimulation of the non-stroke hemisphere appears to work even better when it is preceded by high-frequency (excitatory) stimulation.

Currently, the Brain Plasticity Laboratory is the only research group in the United States to have received Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct studies involving this “priming of the priming” technique. Initial clinical trials completed by the lab have been promising, showing a distinct trend toward improved function in adult stroke patients who receive the double-priming treatment.

Children and stroke

Recently, the lab has expanded its focus to include research on pediatric stroke. Although thought of mainly as an adult illness, stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in children as well. Each year, about 11 of every 100,000 U.S. children under the age of 19 — including about one of every 4,000 newborn babies — experience a stroke, according to the American Stroke Association. The major causes of stroke in children are congenital heart problems, infections, blood disorders (such as sickle cell anemia), and diseases of blood vessels in the brain.

Children show a tendency to advance faster than adults undergoing stroke rehabilitation therapies. Scientists believe children’s brains may have greater plasticity, enhancing their ability to create new neural pathways in response to injury. But 50 to 80 percent of children with a history of stroke enter adulthood with a permanent disability. The most common is total or partial hemiplegia — paralysis on one side of the body.

Clinical studies

Last summer, the Brain Plasticity Laboratory completed a pediatric study that combined rTMS with behavioral therapy. For the study, which was conducted in conjunction with the Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare Hospital in St. Paul and funded by a $1 million challenge grant from the National Institutes of Health, the lab recruited 19 children ages 8 to 16. All had hemiplegia as a result of a stroke.

For 13 days the children received treatment, which alternated daily between rTMS stimulation of the nonstroke side of their brain and one-on-one sessions with a physical therapist. Half of the children received real rTMS stimulation; the other half received sham treatment. (Neither the researchers nor the children knew which treatment the children were receiving until the study was completed.) Throughout the study the children wore a cast on their “good” arm to force them to use only their stroke-affected arm for everyday tasks as well as for the physical therapy exercises.

Both groups of children showed some functional improvement at the end of the study, but those who received the real rTMS stimulation performed significantly better than the other group — and those added gains came with no adverse effects.

“The big question is, can we translate the results that we observed here in our research laboratory to the clinical setting,” says Gillick. “Because that’s ultimately where this is supposed to go. The goal is to improve the lives of those who live with the consequences of stroke.”

Gillick’s current pediatric study — the one Tiffany joined — is using tDCS technology for brain stimulation. Although both technologies can alter brain-cell excitability in the cerebrum, tDCS is less expensive and more portable. That’s because tDCS delivers current directly to the brain, whereas rTMS uses magnetic fields to produce its low-dose electric currents.

“We have just completed the interim analysis and have been approved to continue the study to completion of 20 subjects,” says Gillick. If promising results are found — and she believes they will be — then the next step will be an intervention study combining tdCs with behavioral rehabilitation.

Gillick’s long-term goal is to determine whether this combination of brain stimulation and physical therapy would be even more effective when used soon after a child experiences a stroke. “If we could get closer to around the time of the actual event, we might have a greater impact,” she says.

‘Sign me up’

A week after her initial participation in the tDCS safety study, Tiffany Cowan returned to the Masonic Memorial Building to be hooked up to the brainstimulation machine for a second and final time.

First, though, she asked if she could have a moment to talk with Gillick.

“She literally sat me down,” recalls Gillick, “and said, ‘Ok. you’re going to have another study, right? And you’re going to be actually treating people in that study, right? I want to participate in that study, so sign me up.’”

That conversation underlines the importance of the Brain Plasticity Laboratory’s research, says Gillick — and the great need for more effective treatments for people who have experienced a stroke or other brain injury.

“Tiffany returned for her follow-up excited about the next phase of the study,” Gillick says. “I’m excited, too.”

Web extras

Video: Brain Plasticity Lab

Learn more about brain stimulation and hand training.

Slideshow: In the lab

See a slideshow of Bernadette Gillick, P.T., Ph.D., and research study participant Tiffany Cowan in the lab.

Companion story: Easing the symptoms of focal dystonia

Guitarist Dean Harrington participates in U of M brain-stimulation studies targeting focal dystonia. Read more.

Star Tribune: New stroke therapy shows promise on kids

Using non-invasive electronic stimulation, coupled with occupational therapy, researchers say they are hoping kids can increase hand function. Read more at the Star Tribune.

Learn more

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Gillick’s research studies, please contact study coordinator at 612-626-6415 or brown029@umn.edu.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Easing the symptoms of focal dystonia

2013-04-29T19:51:53Z

Twenty years ago, while studying classical guitar at the University of Minnesota, Dean Harrington lost the fine motor control in the “plucking” fingers of his right hand. Soon he also found that he could no longer type efficiently on a computer and that his right forefinger would spontaneously click the mouse at inappropriate times.

He had developed focal dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that causes muscles to involuntarily contract and twist into unnatural positions. It typically affects a single group of muscles, usually those that a person repeatedly uses for a specific purpose—the muscles, for example, in a pianist’s hand, a trumpeter’s lips, a golfer’s forearm, a surgeon’s wrist, or a football placekicker’s leg. Many people in a variety of professions, including well-known musicians, athletes, writers, and illustrators, have been forced to forsake their careers after developing the condition.

Harrington found the computer problem was annoying, but easy to fix: He resorted to one-finger typing. But the effect of the focal dystonia on his guitar playing was devastating. Harrington had to give up classical guitar. Fortunately, he could still play with a flat pick, a technique that uses a different set of muscles. He switched to performing jazz.

In the ensuing years, Harrington tried all sorts of treatments for his hand dystonia, including acupuncture and various behavioral and massage therapies. Nothing worked. Harrington has enjoyed a full and busy career as a jazz musician (he performs with the popular gypsy jazz band Mill City Hot Club—see video above right), but he never completely gave up on returning to classical guitar. So when he heard about the focal dystonia research being conducted at the University of Minnesota’s Brain Plasticity Laboratory, he volunteered. So far, he has participated in three of the lab’s brain-stimulation studies, including one last year that involved a combination of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and physical therapy.

Neuroplasticity ‘gone bad’

The aim of the lab’s focal dystonia research is to alter brain-cell excitability in a way that helps the brain “rewire” itself to regain lost function. “Focal dystonia is thought to be the result of neuroplasticity gone bad,” explains Teresa Kimberley, P.T., Ph.D., codirector of the Brain Plasticity Laboratory. “People who develop focal dystonia seem to have lost the inhibitory mechanisms in their brain that come in and stop the neuroplastic response.”

Individuals with focal dystonia “literally wake up one morning to discover that their muscles are doing weird things,” she says. And the problem is usually very task-specific. An illustrator may discover, for example, that the muscles in his drawing hand no longer let him hold a pencil. But he can do just about anything else with the fingers of that hand— button a shirt, for example, or eat with chopsticks.

“There’s nothing really wrong with their muscular-skeletal system,” explains Kimberley. “Their muscle biopsies are normal. Their nerve conduction velocities are normal. Their strength is normal. Their range of motion is normal.”

For that reason, focal dystonia is often mistakenly diagnosed as a psychological disorder. “Many people have dreadful stories of being told that they were just crazy,” says Kimberley. “Others were told they had Parkinson’s disease or [multiple sclerosis] or even carpal tunnel syndrome, and then they would have surgery, which would make it worse. Often it takes years to get a correct diagnosis.”

Focal dystonia may be “all in the head,” but not in a psychological way. Brain imaging has shown that the condition arises from faulty, over-excited neural connections in the sensorimotor area of the cerebral cortex, the thin layer of neurons that cover the cerebrum. Because of those over-excited neurons, the brain tells the wrong muscles to contract.

Enhancing therapy

Current treatments for focal dystonia include botulinum toxin (Botox) injections and sensorimotor retraining therapy, a somewhat tedious process in which the brain is retrained to pick up the correct sensory cues from the affected muscles. But neither is a cure, and many people with the condition who undergo these treatments fail to see their symptoms improve.

At the Brain Plasticity Laboratory, Kimberley and her colleagues are exploring a promising new avenue of treatment. In experimental studies, they have found that priming the affected cells in the brain with rTMS can inhibit their excitability, making the brain more receptive to retraining.

“rTMS alone is not going to be a magic bullet that somehow miraculously changes people,” says Kimberley. “But it could be that the technology could be harnessed as an adjunct, enhancing the rehabilitation.”

Subtle improvement

Harrington knew the Brain Plasticity Laboratory’s studies were in their earliest stages and that there was no guarantee that they would have any impact on his focal dystonia. Still, he’s noticed some subtle changes in his symptoms, particularly since his participation in the latest study last summer.

“My typing has improved,” he says. “It’s not fast, but I’m not typing any more with one finger.”

He has even returned, if only tentatively, to playing classical guitar. “I’m approaching it like a beginner,” he stresses. “I’m going in really, really slow.” It’s too soon, he says, to know if he will be able to perform that style of guitar with any regularity. But for the first time in 20 years, he feels hopeful.

By Susan Perry

Web extra

Video:
Dean Harrington’s Mill City Hot Club

View a video of Dean Harrington playing with his band.

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The MNDrive to excellence

2013-04-29T19:42:25Z

Parkinson’s. Alzheimer’s. Schizophrenia. Stroke. Depression. These and a host of other debilitating neurological diseases afflict one in five Americans, at a staggering economic and social cost. But University of Minnesota neuroscientists expect to reduce that burden with advances in neuromodulation — treatments, such as deep brain stimulation, that change the activity of brain circuits.

Both the University and the state’s medical devices industry are leaders in this booming field — with Minnesota companies generating $2.2 billion in neuromodulationrelated revenue in 2011. And the state will continue to lead the way if an ambitious University initiative is approved by the legislature. The initiative, called MNDrive (Minnesota Discovery, Research, and Innovation economy), asks the state to invest $18 million in neuromodulation and three other key industries: food security, robotics, and bioremediation — the use of microorganisms to clean up hazardous wastes.

The aim: advance Minnesota’s economy, position the state as a leader in highgrowth industries, and improve Minnesotans’ quality of life.

Read more at z.umn.edu/cod.

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IRA charitable giving opportunity extended for 2013

2013-03-07T15:38:41Z

Thanks to recent legislation, you can again benefit from a popular tax-advantaged giving option.

Make a gift of up to $100,000 directly from your IRA to the University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) to support medicine and health research before December 31, 2013, and you can avoid paying federal income tax on the amount of your gift.

These rules apply to IRA charitable rollovers in 2013:

Only IRAs are eligible (other types of retirement accounts are not).
You must be age 701/2 or older at the time you make your gift.
Your gift must come directly from the IRA custodian to UMF.
You can give up to $100,000 from your IRA to one or more qualified charities in 2013 (and if your spouse has a separate IRA, you can each give up to $100,000).
Your gift must be outright; it cannot be used to fund a charitable gift annuity or charitable remainder trust.

While you will not be able to claim a charitable deduction for your IRA rollover gift, you also won’t owe federal income tax on any amount up to $100,000 that you distribute to a qualified charity.

To learn more about supporting University of Minnesota research, education, and care through the IRA charitable rollover option or through another type of planned gift, contact our gift planning team via email or at 612-624-3333 or 800-775-2187.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Targeting brain cancer

2012-11-26T15:59:41Z

Gift supports U doctors’ novel vaccine therapy

Betty Jayne Dahlberg of Deephaven, Minn., has seen the devastating effects of brain cancer firsthand. Her late son-in-law, James “Jimmy” Disbrow, lived with glioblastoma for four years before he died in 2002 at age 54.

Disbrow suffered a great deal in those four years—despite valiant attempts to arrest his cancer through experimental therapies. He was an award-winning figure skater, a career he pursued until 1982, when he founded the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant company with his brother.

Dahlberg says she does not want others to endure a similar ordeal, and she has a special concern for children who suffer from brain cancer.

That’s not surprising, considering she has seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

“I’m crazy about my grandchildren,” she says. “I can’t imagine how horrible it would be for one of them to deal with something that can’t be cured, because I saw what Jimmy went through. And he was an adult.”

Those concerns inspired Dahlberg to donate $1 million through Children’s Cancer Research Fund to support novel brain cancer research at the University of Minnesota. Her gift will establish the Kenneth and Betty Jayne Dahlberg Professorship, which soon will be awarded to pediatric neuro-oncologist Christopher Moertel, M.D., clinical director of the University’s Pediatric Brain Tumor Program and a member of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota.

The endowment is named after Betty Jayne and her late husband, Kenneth. The highly decorated World War II flying ace and successful businessman passed away last October. He founded the Miracle Ear Hearing Aid Company, which developed one of the first hearing aids to fit inside the ear. After selling the company in the 1990s, he became a venture capitalist—making one of his earliest investments in Buffalo Wild Wings.

“My husband and I are giving the money,” Dahlberg says of the professorship. “He’s the one who worked hard and made the money, and I supported him. He’d be thrilled with this gift. Absolutely.”

Advancing brain vaccine research

Moertel says the gift will support several aspects of his own and his colleagues’ work, including leading-edge research on vaccines to target three types of brain cancer that afflict both adults and children: medulloblastoma, ependymoma, and glioblastoma.

Vaccines are well known as protective agents against infectious diseases, such as polio, measles, and hepatitis. They work by stimulating immune systems to fight off germs that could lead to these diseases.

Now, Moertel and his scientist colleague John Ohlfest, Ph.D., are investigating a different way to use vaccines — to treat, rather than prevent, brain cancer, a non-communicable illness. Despite the different objective, vaccines used to treat brain cancer work on a similar principle as preventive vaccines; the idea is to coax patients’ own immune systems to attack and kill brain tumor cells.

The hope is that this selective targeting will one day be an alternative to chemo- and radiation therapies, which often come with toxic, debilitating side effects.

Ohlfest, director of the neurosurgery department’s Gene Therapy Program and holder of the Hedberg Family/Children’s Cancer Research Fund Endowed Chair in Brain Tumor Research, helped develop a new vaccine that was first used about three years ago to treat dogs with brain cancer. The success of the animal trial paved the way for clinical trials in humans, including an 18-month trial conducted under Moertel’s guidance that was completed this past June.

The recently finished trial involved eight adults who received a vaccine developed by Ohlfest that included dendritic cells extracted from each patient’s blood. When returned to each patient’s body, this “personalized” vaccine made cancer cells more readily recognizable and revved up the immune system to more aggressively attack the cancer cells.

Although their survival rate was not high, patients did respond to the vaccine, Moertel says. “We showed that some patients benefited; we saw their tumors shrink, and we found that promising.”

Setting their sights on a cure

Moertel and Ohlfest have just begun a second clinical trial. It will test a different vaccine preparation along with imiquimod, a cream produced by 3M under the name Aldara, which is spread on the skin and designed to excite certain parts of the immune system to work with the vaccine.

The first part of the second trial will enroll three adults with glioblastoma; the second part will treat 20 children with an incurable childhood cancer called brainstem glioma. “Our hope is that this vaccine will change the outcome for these [patients],” Moertel says.

He and his colleagues have set their sights high: They want to cure brain cancer. Betty Dahlberg’s gift will help them learn more and provide data that could attract additional foundation or government money to reach their lofty goal.

“It’s a great compliment to me and the people I work with to be recognized by the Dahlberg family,” Moertel says.

“Dr. Moertel and his team come highly recommended, so he must be capable of a breakthrough discovery,” concludes Dahlberg, adding a personal compliment: “He is one of the nicest doctors I’ve ever met.”

By Mary Vitcenda

To learn more about supporting pediatric brain cancer research at the University of Minnesota, contact Trudy Schrodt at 612-625-1897 or t.schrodt@mmf.umn.edu.

To make a gift, visit www.mmf.umn.edu/giveto/braincancer.

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Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Seeking brilliance

2012-11-26T15:58:50Z

Gift will help attract an innovative Parkinson’s disease researcher

When Leaetta Hough talks about her late mother, Hazel Hough, she emphasizes the courage and grace with which she endured the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease for more than 35 years.

That’s why, when Hough asked her mother what she would like done in her honor after her death, she rejected the idea of having a building named for her in her hometown of Bagley, Minn. Instead, Hazel supported Hough’s proposal to contribute money to Parkinson’s disease research at the University of Minnesota.

The daughter has honored those wishes, recently giving $800,000 to establish an endowed professorship in the Department of Neurology, chaired by Jerrold Vitek, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally renowned neurologist.

Befitting Hazel Hough’s character, the endowment is simply named “Innovative Research in Parkinson’s Disease.” The objective is to encourage others to contribute to the fund, as well. “She would have liked that,” says Hough, who is a nationally recognized industrial/organizational psychologist.

The $800,000 contribution comes from Hough and her late husband, Marvin Dunnette, a University of Minnesota psychology professor whose former students joined with her to fund a distinguished chair in the Department of Psychology in his honor. She is now married to Robert Muschewske, a retired psychologist and management consultant.

Recognizing an effective leader

As president of the Dunnette Group in St. Paul, Hough specializes in identifying, understanding, and measuring the characteristics that enable people to perform their work — especially creative work — effectively.

“I know the importance of individuals in achieving innovative, successful outcomes,” she says. “Individuals who foster creativity and innovation in others are unusual. Dr. Vitek is that kind of person, and I want our gift to make a difference.”

There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease. Currently available treatments aim to control symptoms through medications or surgery — the focus of Vitek’s team. Working with colleagues from many disciplines, the team conducts research on surgical therapies for Parkinson’s and related diseases.

Vitek himself has done pioneering work on a surgical therapy called deep brain stimulation (DBS), which delivers electrical impulses directly to areas of the brain that control movement. DBS can act as a substitute for, or a complement to, medications — providing some Parkinson’s patients with “peace and calm after a lifetime of unrest and muscle tension,” he says.

Another promising technique for easing Parkinson’s symptoms is optogenetics, a form of gene therapy that uses light to alter brain cell activity.

Finding the right person for the job

The person hired to fill the endowed professorship will be tapped to help Vitek’s team improve these treatments, or even come up with something entirely new. Vitek says Hough’s donation provides a solid base to attract a “brilliant” physician-scientist to his team.

“We want someone who isn’t afraid to try new things, and who cares about people — someone who’s driven by the science of discovery and the passion to make a difference in patients’ lives,” Vitek says. “Leaetta’s gift is a big step toward finding that person.”

By Mary Vitcenda

To learn more about supporting Parkinson’s disease research at the University of Minnesota, contact Tracy Ketchem at 612-625-1906 or t.ketchem@mmf.umn.edu.

To make a gift, visit www.mmf.umn.edu/giveto/parkinsonsresearch.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Solving vision problems: Where ophthalmologists and neuroscientists converge

2012-10-17T16:37:13Z

Consider the mind-bending truth about the human eye: with an estimated 2 million working parts that allow us to absorb images of the world around us in fractions of a second, the intricate mechanism is second only to the brain itself in complexity.

When things go wrong, however, the impact on a human life can range from annoying to devastating, with total blindness the ultimate insult. But scientists in the University of Minnesota’s recently renamed Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences (OVNS) take up the fight daily, battling their way from questions and problems to answers and treatments.

At the forefront of the effort is the department’s new chair, Erik van Kuijk, M.D., Ph.D., who came to the University last October with a clear charge: continue to improve the department’s clinical and education programs and raise the national and international profile of its already outstanding research program.

“I really came here because of the talented faculty that had been recruited by my predecessor [Jay Krachmer, M.D.],” explains van Kuijk. “We have an electrical engineer, an internationally recognized ocular pathologist, one of the country’s preeminent neuro-ophthalmologists… We truly have an impressive roster of talented individuals.”

The clinical experience

That “preeminent neuro-ophthamologist” is Michael S. Lee, M.D., a nationally recognized clinician who is also working on multiple research projects with department colleagues and who recently cofounded the new Center for Thyroid Eye Disease with pediatric ophthalmologist Erick Bothun, M.D., and oculoplastics and orbital specialist Andrew Harrison, M.D.

According to Lee, patients afflicted with thyroid conditions like Graves’ disease often suffer disabling eye symptoms that disfigure and, worse, threaten vision loss.

“Many times in the past, these patients had to see multiple specialists within ophthalmology to finally enjoy some improvement and restoration,” says Lee. “At the center, the three of us assess patients together, which significantly reduces the number of clinic visits for these folks.”

This new center is just one of the many improvements under way, all geared toward improving the experience for the 70,000- plus patients who are seen annually at the University’s six specialty treatment centers. Phase-one renovations on the East Bank clinic, which is now devoted exclusively to adult patients, have just been completed, and van Kuijk hopes to complete a second phase in 2013. The pediatric clinic has moved across the river, near the new University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital.

Critical work in the labs

As van Kuijk notes, the University’s OVNS department has long had top-notch researchers. If there was any complaint at all, he says, it was that his outstanding team has been reluctant to toot its own horn—something University President Eric Kaler, Ph.D., has encouraged faculty to do since his arrival over a year ago.

Van Kuijk notes that many recent findings by University faculty members have significant potential for treating debilitating and blinding diseases. Work by Linda McLoon, Ph.D., for instance, has shown that strabismus—a condition often called “lazy eye” in which the eyes are improperly aligned—can be treated in animals with sustained-release insulin-like growth factor-1. This is the first pharmacologic agent, says van Kuijk, shown to increase force and size in strabismic muscles and improve eye alignment.

In addition to letting the public know about important successes in his department, van Kuijk is also connecting researchers across traditional specialty lines to address some of the thorniest problems that affect vision—a mission that’s well reflected in the department’s new, more descriptive name.

Case in point: When Robert Miller, M.D., a professor in the Department of Neuroscience, was stalled on a research project, van Kuijk connected him with Lee and pediatric ophthalmologist C. Gail Summers, M.D.

“Together, they’ve discovered some retinal abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia,” says van Kuijk, “and they may have refined a test that can be used to diagnose the problem.”

Eric Newman, Ph.D., another neuroscience professor, is collaborating with van Kuijk’s team on diabetic retinopathy research that deals with blood flow—or lack of it—to the retina.

“If the retina is deprived of blood flow,” Newman explains, “it ultimately leads to blindness.”

But working with diabetic animals, Newman’s team has discovered that by inhibiting a key enzyme, they can reverse the lack of blood flow. Now they’d like to find out whether they can use this chemical intervention to restore blood flow in diabetic humans.

Lee sees the recent changes in the OVNS department as a boon to research.

“Prior to the change,” he says, “we were in silos of ophthalmology and neuroscience. Now Dr. van Kuijk has opened up more collaborative opportunities, connecting us with our neurosciences colleagues. That enables both sides to bring an important new perspective to the research.”

Lee frequently collaborates with McLoon, a professor in both ophthalmology and neuroscience, on a range of research projects. One current project aims to extend the effect of onabotulinumtoxinA, or Botox, which is administered to patients who suffer from conditions like blepharospasm, which results in excessive, spastic blinking.

“It’s a disabling condition,” Lee explains, “but you can paralyze the excessive blinking with Botox injections. Unfortunately, they’re quite painful and only last about three months. If we can extend the duration of the treatments, it would be important relief for those patients.”

Looking ahead

With significant improvements to clinics already under way and exciting new teaching tools in place—the department has recently added a simulator that helps train residents to do cataract surgery—van Kuijk is focusing on breaking down those specialty “silos” and making better use of the resources on hand.

“A lot of what I do now is look for opportunities and make connections,” he says. “One of the University’s five corridors of discovery is neuroscience, and by bringing the words ‘visual neurosciences’ into our department name, we remind people that ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota is about a lot more than just seeing patients.

“We’re very proud that this is the first ophthalmology department in the country to have this name, which reflects the depth and range of the work we do.”

How vision works

To take in visual information, the eye focuses light on the retina, converts that light into electrical impulses, then sends those impulses to the brain for interpretation—millions of times each day.

When light bounces off an object, the light travels through four surfaces of the eye—cornea, aqueous humor, lens, and vitreous humor—before arriving at the retina.
Ciliary muscles in the eye push and pull to change the shape of the lens, which allows us to focus on objects at various distances.
The iris, or colored area, controls the pupil, expanding and contracting to let in more or less light.
When light reaches the retina, it triggers a complex chemical reaction in light-sensitive rod and cone cells, which send electrical impulses through nerve cells in the retina and through the optic nerve to the visual cortex in the brain.
The brain analyzes the information nearly instantaneously, allowing us to see the objects around us.

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One gift generates a huge return on investment

2012-10-17T16:33:45Z

A famous reporter was once advised to “follow the money.” Here at the University of Minnesota, tracing the journey of a $25,000 gift from Liz Hawn and her husband, Van, on its path through the Department of Neuroscience is a perfect case in point for how private donations can reignite critical research—and, ultimately, become the gift that keeps on giving.

When department head Timothy Ebner, M.D., Ph.D., holder of the Max E. and Mary LaDue Pickworth Endowed Chair in Neuroscience, received the Hawns’ donation last December, he split the funds between two scientists who had reached an impasse in their research due to lack of funding.

Paul Mermelstein, Ph.D., researches the effects of estrogens on the female brain, but late last year two major grant proposals were in jeopardy because lab resources had been stretched too thin. When Ebner funneled $10,000 of the Hawns’ gift to the lab, the relatively modest sum kept the team going. And in July, both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation kicked in significant dollars to put the work back on track.

Mark Thomas, Ph.D., meanwhile, was studying the underlying neurobiological mechanism responsible for drug addiction relapse when funding for a key lab member ran out, threatening to halt the promising research. The remaining $15,000 from the Hawns’ gift saved the day.

“Addiction is a chronic relapsing disorder,” Thomas explains, “and, using a mouse model, we’d identified a specific change in the brain when an addicted mouse was exposed to a stressor or re-exposed to the addictive drug. Unfortunately, you can have what seem like marvelous, innovative ideas, but if you don’t have the right team of well-trained people and the right equipment … well, you won’t get very far.”

Restoring support for one of those well-trained people allowed Thomas’s research team to finish work necessary for its grant proposals to the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the NIH— which also paid off in spades.

“The combined total dollars for the four grants Paul and Mark received will be more than $4 million,” Ebner says, “leveraging the Hawn gift into a spectacular rate of return.”

“The basic science projects often have the hardest time getting funding—those things that aren’t ‘sexy’ but are so important,” says Liz Hawn, who serves on the Minnesota Medical Foundation’s board of trustees and has recently donated another $25,000 to the University. “I was really pleased to find out how much our gift helped.”

Donations of all sizes can make a difference, says Mermelstein. “It’s about more than dollars. It’s the idea that an individual is willing to support our work. It changes the dynamic in the lab, really driving home the message that what we’re doing is working to improve lives. We’re all incredibly appreciative.”

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Bent on delivering results

2012-10-17T16:30:19Z

University team focuses on bone health to keep boys who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy active for as long as possible

Sometimes, it’s the quietest voice that speaks most resoundingly. So it is with many of the University of Minnesota’s donors, who, without fanfare, step up to support small research projects bent on delivering big results.

Many of these projects aren’t of the headline-yielding variety, but rather they’re studies focused on one specific aspect of a disease. The Frank and Eleanor Maslowski Charitable Trust’s recent $140,000 gift to the University’s Paul and Sheila Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center to fund a small study on bone health in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a perfect case in point.

Frank J. Provos Jr., who heads the Maslowski trust (funded by his late sister Eleanor and her late husband, Frank), understands the devastation of muscular dystrophy all too well: Both his wife and son died of myotonic dystrophy.

“When the opportunity came up to support this study,” says Provos, “it seemed to be a natural fit for us. I know this would have pleased my sister Eleanor that we are supporting research into a disease that needs all the help it can get.”

Pediatric neurologist Peter Karachunski, M.D., who heads the Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Center, is the bone study’s principal investigator.

“The malignant course of DMD is unfortunately very predictable,” he explains. “It occurs only in boys and is typically diagnosed around age 4 or 5. As the disease progresses and kids get weaker, they gradually lose bone mass and are at high risk for developing fractures. Quite often, a fracture can become the factor that moves a boy into a wheelchair permanently.”

So the premise of his study is straightforward: Can whole-body vibration improve bone health and thereby stave off fractures in boys with DMD? It’s not a new question. In earlier studies using mice, Karachunski’s University colleague Dawn Lowe, Ph.D., found that mechanical vibration did improve bone health—with no deleterious effects.

Basically, Karachunski says, the boys simply stand in place for about 10 minutes every day and receive mechanical vibration. If he gets the positive results he hopes for, Karachunski will expand the study to include more boys.

“Bone health is one of the many little things, so to speak, that affects the lives of boys with DMD,” Karachunski says. “As we search for a cure, we also want to improve the quality of their lives, which are still tragically all too short.”

To learn more about how you can support this research, contact Tracy Ketchem of the Minnesota Medical Foundation at 612-625-1906 or t.ketchem@mmf.umn.edu.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

After visiting a U lab, ataxia volunteer finds new hope for the future

2012-10-17T16:27:56Z

A former college baseball player, Brian Kraft just wasn’t seeing the ball quite like he used to. While playing recreational softball five years post-college, he felt too clumsy—like his skills were diminishing faster than they should.

“I was just thinking there was something not right with me,” he says.

When his father was diagnosed with a hereditary form of ataxia in 2006, Kraft couldn’t help but wonder if he, too, had the disease. His suspicion was confirmed the following year.

Spinocerebellar ataxias generally affect a person’s balance, speech, and eye movements. The specific form of ataxia that affects Kraft and his father, spinocerebellar ataxia type 7, also causes visual problems such as progressive macular degeneration.

It all made sense. But the news was a huge blow to Kraft and his family. Kraft admits that he had a hard time trying to stay positive.

But as he has become involved with the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center at the University of Minnesota—first through events and now as a member of its board of directors—Kraft says he has felt a greater sense of purpose.

And he feels more hopeful about his future after touring the University’s ataxia research labs. Now that he’s starting to understand some of the “amazing” science happening here—from early-stage mouse studies to the promise that potentially therapeutic stem cells could be made from a patient’s own skin cells—he’s even more impressed.

“For the first time, I think we can actually cure this thing,” Kraft says. “Up until [the tour], I felt like we were still so far away.”

Today a more optimistic Kraft is trying to focus on what he can do. Though it took him about 15 strokes more to complete a round of golf this summer than it would have five years ago, he still played. And this winter he is looking forward to playing in the snow with his three daughters.

Kraft, 39, says he just tries to keep a new goal in mind. “Now when I go out, I say, ‘I’m just going to enjoy the day.’”

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

BAARC board awards more than $240,000 for ataxia studies

2012-10-17T16:22:30Z

Exciting. Promising. Leading-edge. These are a few of the ways to describe the four University of Minnesota research projects that recently received funding from the Bob Allison Ataxia Research Center. The organization’s board of directors granted more than $240,000 total to these scientists:

Timothy Ebner, M.D., Ph.D., $92,600

Ebner’s group hopes to discover what happens in the brain’s cerebellum during the motor attacks associated with episodic ataxia type 2 using optogenetics—a tool that allows researchers to “turn off” or “turn on” neurons using light. Ebner hopes the study will provide new knowledge on how the disease occurs and possibly insight into new therapeutic approaches.

Isabelle Iltis, Ph.D., $49,855

Iltis will use MR spectroscopy to noninvasively examine the spinal cords of people who have Friedreich’s ataxia as well as healthy subjects to characterize differences between them. She expects that this comparison will help her group identify potential biomarkers for the disease, which would allow researchers to more objectively monitor the effects of potential treatments in clinical trials.

Bharat Thyagarajan, M.D., Ph.D., $49,995

Thyagarajan’s team will evaluate a new technology called Next Generation Sequencing, which allows for cost-effective DNA analysis, in diagnosing rare types of ataxia. The group plans to develop computer algorithms to detect large deletions or duplications of DNA, which have been shown to cause a subset of ataxias.

Christophe Lenglet, Ph.D., $48,624

Lenglet’s group will use combined diffusion MR imaging and spectroscopy to study the degeneration of specific pathways in the cerebellum noninvasively. It will examine microstructural integrity and connectivity in the brain to discover differences between healthy subjects and ataxia patients—and among patients with different types of ataxia—to better understand how the disease progresses.

Learn more

As many as 150,000 Americans suffer from some form of ataxia. Learn more about efforts to combat the disease at www.mmf.umn.edu/neuro/baarc.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Diamond Awards: Join us for baseball, food, and fun

2012-10-17T16:17:08Z

You’re invited to be a part of Minnesota’s premier baseball charity event. Mark your calendars for the eighth annual Diamond Awards on Thursday, January 24, at Target Field.

At this star-studded affair honoring Minnesota baseball icons, you’ll join us for a televised awards dinner featuring current and former Minnesota Twins, have a chance to bid on rare baseball memorabilia at a silent auction, and much more.

Diamond Awards proceeds support the University of Minnesota’s innovative research and patient care in ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), ataxia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease.

Tickets are $150 (of which $100 is tax-deductible). To learn more and see highlights from last year’s event, visit www.minnesotadiamondawards.org.

You can make a difference

Help the University of Minnesota save lives, inspire hope, and prepare the world’s future health care leaders. Make a gift today.

Because with your support, anything is possible.

Brain, Nerve, and Muscle Health | Minnesota Medical Foundation

Neurosciences News

Spring 2013

With donors’ support, University researcher pursues the causes of neurodegeneration behind Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

Company’s gift supports integration of psychotherapy treatments for adolescents and young adults facing mental illness

About Neurosciences News

Archives

Big Ten Network shines spotlight on U Alzheimer's disease research

Connecting the dots

With donors’ support, University researcher pursues the causes of neurodegeneration behind Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

A personal interest

When a protein turns toxic

Further evidence

A more hopeful future

Company’s gift supports integration of psychotherapy treatments for adolescents and young adults facing mental illness

With better diagnosis and treatment methods in mind, U takes part in study to identify biomarkers for Parkinson's

Epilepsy care options expand through integration of physician groups

New gene-sequencing technology gives patients answers faster and at a much lower cost

Does psychosocial distress elevate your risk of stroke?

Retraining the brain

U plasticity lab helps kids and adults recover from stroke and other disabling conditions

By Susan Perry

Exploring new territory

Retraining the brain

The battle of the hemispheres

Double priming the brain

Children and stroke

Clinical studies

‘Sign me up’

Web extras

Learn more

Easing the symptoms of focal dystonia

Neuroplasticity ‘gone bad’

Enhancing therapy

Subtle improvement

Web extra

The MNDrive to excellence

IRA charitable giving opportunity extended for 2013

Targeting brain cancer

Gift supports U doctors’ novel vaccine therapy

Advancing brain vaccine research

Setting their sights on a cure

Seeking brilliance

Gift will help attract an innovative Parkinson’s disease researcher

Recognizing an effective leader

Finding the right person for the job

Solving vision problems: Where ophthalmologists and neuroscientists converge

The clinical experience

Critical work in the labs

Looking ahead

How vision works

One gift generates a huge return on investment

Bent on delivering results

University team focuses on bone health to keep boys who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy active for as long as possible

After visiting a U lab, ataxia volunteer finds new hope for the future

BAARC board awards more than $240,000 for ataxia studies

Timothy Ebner, M.D., Ph.D., $92,600

Isabelle Iltis, Ph.D., $49,855

Bharat Thyagarajan, M.D., Ph.D., $49,995

Christophe Lenglet, Ph.D., $48,624

Learn more

Diamond Awards: Join us for baseball, food, and fun