6 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COMEditor's Note ®
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to [email protected]WILLIAM ZUBACK/DISCOVERBecky LangOn the Brain’s Path
Most people have experienced
it, even in their 20s and 30s: You
stride with purpose from the living
room to the kitchen, but by the
time you get there, you’re standing
flat-footed, unable to remember
the task at hand. In mere seconds,
your mind has gone blank.
Each time it happens, I wonder
if this is my brain signaling the
onset of what’s to come, like the
false contractions that remind
you you’re about to have a baby.
Is it setting a timeline for when
its neural connections start
to wither?
Science still isn’t sure exactly
how the brain ages and at what
point health morphs into disease.
Researchers are just now figuring
out how they might repair
the brain, or at least slow down the destruction once it’s on
a disordered path.
In this issue, two of Discover’s contributing editors delve
into these hot research areas. Jeff Wheelwright takes you
through one branch of the Human Connectome Project, in
which scientists at UCLA aim to establish a baseline for what
a healthy aging brain really looks like (Page 26). His data
from precise brain imaging, as well as cognitive, physical and
psychological testing, will be combined with that of thousands
of others in trials at sites across the country.
And Linda Marsa talks with a stroke patient, a young
man with a spinal cord injury and a woman who is gradually
regaining her sight. In these cases, neural stem cells are helping
to repair connections and function (Page 32). It’s still early, but
researchers are starting to see stem cells as talented construction
workers — getting the job done with reliable workarounds.D