Every second of human life is guided by reactions in the brain. With the average American’s life spanning more than two trillion seconds and billions of years of evolution on top of that, studying the brain’s inner working has become increasingly complex.

To help bring research together, two Syracuse University professors have formed the Syracuse Neuroscience Organization, which includes professors from five SU departments and six departments from the State University of New York Upstate Medical University who meet to share and expand their knowledge.

‘There’s not a thought, an emotion, a perception that isn’t registered by the brain – there’s not a moment of our experience, from the time we’re born ’til the time we die that isn’t a consequence of an event in our brain,’ said Marc Howard, professor of psychology and one of SNO’s founding members. ‘In some sense, it’s what we are. That’s an important problem.’

Howard, along with SNO’s other founding member Laurel Carney, professor of bioengineering and neuroscience, said they hope the organization can bring together a variety of sciences, including biology, engineering and psychology, to improve the field of neuroscience.

Neuroscience is a core discipline for 21st century science, Howard said, and research on the workings of the nerves in the brain and the behavioral and physical reactions these nerves cause encompass a wide variety of areas. Diseases such as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease could be understood and cured by neuroscience research.

Carney and Howard created SNO to help bring this variety of individuals together to foster interaction that may lead to collaboration and to broaden educational resources, Carney said.

‘In order to really understand something so important and complex, you need to be able to ask and answer questions using tools at all sorts of levels of understanding,’ Howard said.

The founders hope that SNO will also bring both practical and intellectual benefits to SU and the city.

‘If scientists can do better research, it makes them better teachers – bringing their work into the classroom and, where possible, bringing students into their work,’ Howard said.

Local scientists are currently working on improving cochlear hearing aids and implants to try to determine the best way to treat psychiatric diseases and how to help learning-disabled children.

Julie Hasenwinkel, professor of bioengineering and neuroscience, is currently working on developing a way to repair spinal cord injuries. Her research focuses on finding materials that can promote regrowth into the spinal cord after an injury. The material is implanted in the spinal cord and bridges healthy tissue above and below the injury site.

Hasenwinkel joined SNO because of a desire to be involved in an environment that helps to promote research in the greater Syracuse area and looks forward to being able to meet professionals from different fields and institutions.

‘I’m not a neuroscientist by training,’ said Hasenwinkel, who specializes in biomedical materials, ‘so I hope that I can meet people doing research in other areas. Maybe my lab can be useful to their work. It opens up new opportunities for collaboration.’

To further bring together professionals and their research, SNO will bring in speakers in the field of neuroscience for its Distinguished Lecture Series. John Maunsell of Baylor University began the series Friday with a lecture on the science of attention.

The lecture was attended by 247 people from SU and SUNY Upstate, including about 100 SU undergraduates. Carol Barnes, president of the Society of Neuroscientists and a professor from the University of Arizona, will speak on April 29.

Carney hopes the collaboration with SUNY Upstate will ultimately bring more upper-division neuroscience courses and programs to the two institutions.

‘Judging by Friday’s turnout, I’d say there’s a lot of interest,’ she said.

Published on October 3, 2004 at 12:00 pm