The Oregon Health & Science University Brain Institute’s popular Brain Awareness Season is back in 2011. All of the lectures will be held at 7 p.m. at the Newmark Theater, 1111 S.W. Broadway, Portland. Tickets are available online via any Ticketmaster outlet or at the Newmark Theater Box office.

OHSU Brain Awareness Lecture Series 2011

• Monday, Feb. 7 – “A Window into the Brain: A New Approach to Depression.” Helen Mayburg, M.D., of Emory University, is an expert on the brain systems, which affect mood and emotions. Her belief is that a technology developed in part at OHSU – deep-brain stimulation – may hold promise for the one in 10 Americans who battle depression at some point in their lifetimes.
• Monday, Feb. 14 – “From Genes to Brains: A New Understanding of Autism.” In many ways, autism remains a mystery to physicians and researchers alike. This is the case, despite the fact that the frequency of autism is greater than that of pediatric cancers, diabetes and AIDS combined. Daniel Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and director of the Neurogenetics Program and the Center for Autism Research and Treatment, shares our concerns about autism. During his talk, he’ll share the latest data on the disease and the search for prevention and treatment. 
• Monday, Feb. 21 – “Pain and the Brain: Perception and the Pathways to Relief.” Both pain and pleasure are controlled by the brain and they are two of our greatest motivators. Howard Fields, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and physiology, and director of the Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction at the University of California, San Francisco has been studying these factors for several years. Hear how his research into pain relief provides new insight and advances in the development of better treatments.
  

• Tuesday, March 15 – “The Brain and the Immune System: How the Body Can Turn on Itself and Cause Such Problems as: M.S., Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Stroke and Other Disorders.” Neuro-inflammation is a new and rapidly expanding field that has revolutionized our understanding of chronic neurological diseases. Stephen Hauser, M.D., of the University of California San Francisco, is a leader in the international effort to identify genetic causes of MS and their role in neuro-inflammation. Hear how his research may impact several related diseases that impact millions of Americans.
• Monday, May 23 – “The Brain and Drug Addiction.” Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse visits Portland to share her vision in the battle against addiction. Volkow has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain and has led the fight to reduce the enormous toll that drug abuse and addiction have taken on this country. She recently was named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape our World.”

  

Additional Brain Awareness dates

Saturday, March 5 – Free teacher workshop featuring Matthew Walker, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, “Secrets of the Sleeping Brain." Registration is required.

Saturday, March 12 – Free Brain Awareness Season Brain Fair at OMSI.

Monday, March 21 - Free Marquam Hill Lecture: “The History of Addiction Research.” Robert Hitzemann, Ph.D., chairman, OHSU Department of Behavioral Neuroscience. Registration is required.