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Brain research could lead to better treatments
April 14, 1997
Web posted at: 3:42 p.m. EDT (1942 GMT)In this story:
- MRI shows brain in action
- Information could aid trauma recovery
- Findings could change school schedules
- Related sites
From Correspondent Al Hinman
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Do you sometimes struggle to remember a telephone number just long enough to dial it? How many times have you had a close friend's name escape you, or fumbled for a word right on the tip of your tongue?
Such dilemmas are all part of how the human brain works. You can't explain it -- but if you think doctors can, think again. Researchers are just now starting to unlock the mysteries of how we see, think and remember. Their research could soon help doctors better treat brain diseases and injuries.
Electronic view of areas of the brain at work 
(125K/11 sec. small frame QuickTime movie) (228K/11 sec. large frame QuickTime movie) MRI shows brain in action
For the first time, researchers can now see the actual thought process as a live human brain tries to fetch a fact. "We can really watch from moment to moment as the brain activity changes," said Susan Courtney of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Advanced imaging techniques allow researchers to graphically see and measure the increases in blood flow and oxygen to different parts of the brain as they are stimulated by specific tasks. The images are captured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
The new view revealed something surprising. The common perception, Courtney said, was that seeing an object was handled by a different part of the brain than remembering it.
But researchers at the institute discovered that "it wasn't that clear-cut," she said. "It was more of a continuum."
Information could aid trauma recovery
Researchers say the finding is significant, because it dispels the common assumption that individual areas of the brain control individual functions, like walking and talking.
"It's really a network that's all working together," Courtney said. "One area affects another area, and every part of the network is involved in doing that task."
Doctors hope the new discoveries will help them better treat brain injuries, including strokes and even tumors. At the University of California-Los Angeles, researchers are trying to use technology to develop better ways of diagnosing diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
"We can look at functional changes in the brain before any structural change occurs," said Dr. John Mazziotta of the UCLA medical school.
Findings could change school schedules
The research has turned up another surprise: that schools' current schedules for teaching things like mathematics and reading may need to be adjusted to accommodate the brain's best time for learning.
Mazziotta's goal is to define how the brain learns, and then determine "the most effective time for that kind of learning ... and the most effective strategy." Eventually, his work could lead to a new approach for how we raise and educate our children.
Still in the future: a perfect map of the brain, somewhat like a globe's latitude and longitude. Such a map will be needed to realize researchers' goals, Mazziotta said.
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