Groundbreaking discovery provides fundamental insights into neurological disorders

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.

Founded by Monte and Susan Lake after their daughter was diagnosed with spinocerebellar ataxia 17, or SCA 17, the MINDlink Foundation was created as a means of generating support for Dr. Schmahmann's vital research on the cerebellum at the Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology at Massachusetts General Hospital to help find cures for the more than six million Americans who suffer from neurological diseases such as ataxia, Alzheimer's, autism, depression and schizophrenia, epilepsy, Huntington's, and Parkinson's.

"Stricken with the crippling effects of this cerebellar-based progressive disease at age 20, losing the ability to speak, and rapidly degenerating from physical normality to a wheel chair by the age of 24, Catie's experience inspired us to establish the MINDlink Foundation," reads the MINDlink Foundation Web site statement given by the Lakes. "Through it, we seek your help in supporting research that will benefit her and millions of others who have neurological disorders with a cerebellar component."

According to the MINDlink Web site, neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of Americans and their families and the emotional, social and financial impact is overwhelming. The cost to society is measured in billions of dollars. This toll will increase exponentially as the incidence of neurodegenerative disorders grows with the aging baby boomer generation. Novel treatments and cures must be discovered before these diseases cripple our health care system.