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Movement. Speech. Thought. Senses. With so many vital functions controlled by the brain and nervous system, it's crucial to seek the finest care when problems arise. At the University of Chicago Medicine, we have assembled a team of neurological experts who are highly skilled in evaluating and treating the most complex and challenging nervous system disorders — with and without surgery.
UChicago Medicine is home to one of the nation's few fully equipped and staffed neurointensive care units. Our neuro ICU provides the highest level of care for acute stroke patients, as well as difficult cases that require more than routine neurological care, such as people with life-threatening brain infections, persistent seizures and brain and spinal cord injuries. The neuro ICU is equipped with the latest technology, including continuous brain wave monitoring and portable CT imaging. Its location near the neurosciences inpatient rooms facilitates collaboration and patient-centered care.
Our surgeons use high-precision planning technology to prepare for procedures and perform complex brain operations without destroying vital brain functions. Our neurosurgeons are pioneers in minimally invasive surgery, and offer this approach to diagnose and treat many neurological conditions, from neck and spine problems to hydrocephalus and brain tumors.
Our neurologists and neurosurgeons offer hope for complex cases. Our team has proven expertise in helping patients who other providers may consider untreatable. We regularly care for people of all ages with rare and chronic conditions, offering a comprehensive approach that accounts for the physical and emotional challenges of nervous system disease.
In addition to providing exceptional patient care, our UChicago Medicine experts are actively engaged in shaping the future of neurological care as teachers, mentors and researchers.
Our doctors are actively involved in national and international trials of the most promising therapies for neurological diseases. Behind the scenes, UChicago Medicine physicians and scientists conduct vital research that delves into the causes and workings of specific neurologic disorders with a goal of finding more effective treatments for chronic and complex conditions. As a result, our patients have access to new therapies long before they are widely available.
The Center for Care and Discovery — Hyde Park is the home for neuroscience care at UChicago Medicine. The facility is designed for family-centered care and improved communication among all members of a patient's care team. Neurosciences facilities in the Center for Care and Discovery include two neuroangiography suites, leading-edge surgical suites, a neuro-intensive care unit (ICU) and dedicated inpatient rooms.
At the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children's Hospital, our neurology and neurosurgery experts provide exceptional care for the most challenging pediatric neurological diseases. Our team of experts work closely together to coordinate effective, comprehensive and innovative treatment plans for children with neurological illnesses.
The human brain is incredibly complex, and understanding how it functions could be one of the biggest scientific efforts ever undertaken.
I think this could be one of the most difficult things that humans have ever attempted to do. To get a physical basis for our thoughts our actions our emotions and our behavior could be literally the most challenging project that anyone has ever tried.
Why are human brains different than animals? What happens to the brain that leads to mental illness or degenerative issues? These are puzzles that haven't yet been solved by science.
Everyone wants to understand what it means to be human. How is it that this organ in our heads gives us all of these perceptions and understanding and feeling? And when we get to an understanding of how that comes about mechanistically, I think it's really going to change our view of what it is that we are and what it means to be human.
The University of Chicago has made a big effort to grow its study of the neurosciences. That's one of the reasons why Bobby Kasthuri came here to work on the brain mapping project. On his background and enthusiasm actually for tackling ridiculously big problems like this one is what I find exciting. You know, he's kind of bold and brave.
So at a basic level, what Bobby is trying to do is to figure out what is the map of the brain in terms of all of these connections, all of the cells, how they are connected to each other, and what does this mean. What does it mean in the context of normal brain function? And what happens to these connections in the context of various diseases?
The power of the tools provided by Argonne along with the university's efforts in neuroscience make this a unique environment.
The university's connectivity to Argonne and in particular or operating of Argonne for the US Department of Energy gives us a very particular relationship and very particular opportunities for using this type of infrastructure that again, as I've said, there's no university in the world that can have this level and scale of infrastructure.
I think there's a great opportunity here at the University of Chicago to do something really special in neuroscience. Argonne, obviously, gives us a type of data that we would be able to get anywhere else. But there's more than that. The university has a long tradition of rigorous thought, quantitative approaches, and interdisciplinary work, which is central to neuroscience.
Two things are unique to Argonne that will be crucial to this work.
We have big machines here on the scale that you can't find anywhere else often on the planet. So for example, two of the things that Argonne has are leading computing. So that means that we have bigger, faster, more powerful computers than anywhere else. And another tool that Argonne has is the advanced photon source, which is a huge microscope.
The advanced photon source is currently the most powerful X-ray in the world, and it is being modified to become 1,000 times stronger. Argonne is also building a new supercomputer unlike anything the world has ever seen. It will take this kind of power to do the brain mapping work.
Looking at the connections, the wiring diagrams of the brain, doing exhaustive reconstructions of small parts of brain circuits where we can see every connection between every cell and at least a limited part of the brain, that's new information. That's the sort of thing we've never had before. And with what's available at Argonne, we can do it here uniquely in the world.
So we're proposing in a single experiment to collect volumes of data, which are as large as anything has ever been done. The only place you could actually do that is here.
The brain contains billions of neurons. Each of these neurons connects with other cells, forming quadrillions of connections. That's why it's so important to have huge computing resources for this effort.
That diagram of how every neuron connects to every other neuron not only contains all the information about you -- your personality, your memories, et cetera -- but that many of the things that we call illnesses are mis-routings, mis-wirings of that diagram.
But the brain continues to change throughout our lives. Somehow we learn from experiences, but scientists don't quite understand how that works.
This is the fundamental nature of the human condition. We are born completely helpless, completely useless, and completely hapless. Every one of us grows into adults that learn a million things about the world around us, learn how the world works and how to manipulate it. And I realized if I could figure that out, I could actually figure out, in my view, the fundamental thing it means to be human.
This is what the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory are all about -- attracting the best minds to tackle the biggest challenges humankind faces.
I think that we are committed as an institution to creating interesting opportunities that allow the best and most creative people to flourish.
Advancing artificial intelligence is just one of the possible benefits of brain mapping. Mental health and curing degenerative diseases of the brain are natural areas where brain mapping can have a great impact. Another area is energy. Much of the world's energy will one day be used to move data to and from the cloud. The brain is incredibly energy efficient, operating on only about 20 watts of power. Scientists think unlocking some of the secrets of the brain might lead to more energy efficient computers.
Understanding the brain I think has broad reaching societal implications beyond understanding the kidney or the liver. These include the future of computing, the future of artificial intelligence, the future of energy. And literally, if I can push this, imagine that we can even understand the biological basis of mental disorders.
A roadmap of the most complex, intricate thing known. What will this do for mankind? Will it cure mental illness? End the suffering of Alzheimer's? Will it make robots who are capable of things we can only currently imagine? Will it solve a pending energy crisis? It could be one of the greatest scientific endeavors of all time. And it's happening now.
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