Penn and the Brain
Penn has at least 40 centers, institutes and research groups devoted to one thing: The brain.
These include the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, which seeks to understand the causes of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other disorders, and the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, which explores the relationship between neuroscience, behavior, religion and spirituality. In this special report, we highlight just a fraction of the amazing research about the brain taking place at Penn, in disciplines as wide-ranging as philosophy, neurosurgery, criminology and psychiatry. For more, visit the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center website at www.uphs.upenn.edu/penncnc.
Q&A: Adrian Raine
This Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor hears complaints that his research connecting brain dysfunction to crime—work that hints at the possibility of one day being able to identify potential criminals early in life—could infringe upon civil liberties. Raine understands all of the complaints and worry. But he also says he must continue. Read more ...
Going deep in the brain to help
Parkinson’s patients
A surgical procedure that sends electrical shocks deep into the brain has given new hope to people suffering from the severe effects of Parkinson’s disease and other motor disorders. Read more...
Sending signals: Prof creates ‘mini-nervous system’
Doug Smith is at the cutting edge of his field, with work that has hinted at the possibility of creating a brain-machine interface that would allow the brain to “talk" with an artificial limb, or, more recently, repairing damaged nerve systems with material grown in a lab setting, then transplanted successfully in rats. Read more...
Treatment for addiction--in its many formsPenn’s Charles O’Brien Center for Addiction Treatment treats people suffering from addictions to substances including heroin, cocaine, alcohol and nicotine, and is also researching other things that may be addictive, such as video games or gambling. Read more...
The mind and ‘metaphor’
A Penn philosopher applies empirical data to traditional philosophical questions to think about the brain in a new way. Read more...
