February 13, 2013
Neuroscience seminar series features mental health expert on a discussion of sanity on Feb 25
On February 25, the lake Forest College Neuroscience program welcomes Dr. Csernansky (Lizzie Gilman Professor and Chair of...
The Lake Forest College Neuroscience Program, Nu Rho Psi (the national neuroscience honorary) and SYNAPSE (the neuroscience student organization) invites the public to a lecture entitled “On the Boundary Between the Sane and the Insane” by Dr. John Csernansky on Monday, February 25 at 4:15 pm, in Meyer Auditorium located in Hotchkiss Hall. A reception will begin at 4:00 pm.
Dr. Csernansky is the Lizzie Gilman Professor and Chair of Psychiatric Behavioral Disorders at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation and Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Stone Institute of Psychiatry).
Dr. Csernansky received his B.A. with Honors in Chemistry from Northwestern University and his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine. After serving on the medical school faculties of Stanford and Washington University between 1990-2008, he joined Northwestern University. During his career, he has published 250 peer reviewed scientific articles in major journals.
Dr. Csernansky’s research interests include in vivo neuroimaging of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia and Alzheimer disease, clinical trials of cognition-enhancing drugs, and the development of animal models for neuropsychiatric disorders with greater validity. His lab uses structural and functional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to collect information about the location and magnitude of abnormalities of brain structure and function in patients with schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.
In schizophrenia, his research team has found evidence of a progressive loss of gray matter and hypo-activation in temporal and parietal regions of the cerebral cortex and in the subcortical structures that are related to these cortical regions. In Alzheimer’s disease, their findings suggest that measures of gray matter loss in medial temporal lobe structure can be used as biomarkers of early disease.
The goal of their research program is to improve the validity of psychiatric diagnosis in patients with schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and related disorders using measures of brain structure and function. In addition, measures of brain structure and function should also be useful as markers of the impact of new drug and non-drug treatments on disease processes.
The event is open and free to the public. Parking is available on Middle Campus (enter at the College and Sheridan Road intersection).
News Contact
Shubhik K. DebBurman, PhDProfessor of Biology
Chair, Neuroscience Program
email: debburman@lfc.edu
Phone: 847-735-6040