|
Volume 38, No. 13 |
Andreasen to discuss mental illness, schizophrenia
 |
|
| Former President
Bill Clinton, Nancy Andreasen, and Terry Gwinn, Andreasen’s fiance,
after a Dec. 1 White House ceremony in which Andreasen received the
National Medal of Science. |
Nancy Andreasen, Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine, will help people learn about the brain and mental illness in a free, public lecture at 4 p.m. April 4, in Macbride Auditorium. The lecture, "Understanding the human mind and brain in the golden age of neuroscience," is being presented in honor of Andreasen’s recent receipt of the National Medal of Science. A reception in the Old Capitol rotunda will follow the lecture.
Andreasen will discuss overall concepts about mental illness as well as what researchers, including many UI investigators, have learned about the normal brain and schizophrenia using modern tools of neuroimaging and neuroscience.
"The knowledge that we are obtaining by using the tools of neuroscience offer a great deal of hope that we can eventually develop better treatments, which will reverse or prevent the symptoms more effectively than our current treatments," said Andreasen, who also is director of the UI Mental Health Clinical Research Center.
Andreasen has made distinguished contributions to research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of schizophrenia. She is known internationally for her neuro-imaging research, which involves the use of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography.
Andreasen’s talk will begin with the normal brain and address three topics: gender differences, aging, and brain development. She will then turn to the topic of mental illness, with a focus on schizophrenia, and describe the evidence suggesting that schizophrenia is a neurodevel-opmental disorder.
Article
by Becky Soglin