Dr. Jeremy Schmahmann, Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, on Thursday, November 19, presented his laboratory's research on the new field of study called "Connectivity" at the launch of the MINDlink Foundation.
Dr. Schmahmann is an award-winning leader in the field of the cerebellum and cognition, and in deciphering the hardwiring of the brain. Together with colleagues he made the groundbreaking discovery that the cerebellum (little brain), once thought only to coordinate movement, is essential also for modulating intellect and emotion - with implications for disabling conditions including schizophrenia and autism. His landmark collaborative studies of the connections and pathways of the brain have provided fundamental insights into the nervous system and diseases ranging from epilepsy to Alzheimer's. Working with colleagues at Harvard and in the MGH Ataxia Unit, the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, and the Broad Institute, Dr. Schmahmann's studies have potential to solve intractable problems of the biology of the neurodegenerative ataxias and related disorders.
"The new technology of magnetic resonance imaging tractography brings us closer than ever to understanding the human brain itself. Together with an extraordinary team of clinical, neuroimaging and basic science investigators, we are creating a blueprint of the structure and function of the human brain in health and disease, with the real hope of developing effective treatments for devastating neurological disorders," explained Dr. Schmahmann.