U of O Brain and Mind Research Institute

A few weeks ago I got an invitation from the Dean's office to a reception and guided tour of the new Brain and Mind Research Institute. I ignored it at first but got several persuasive follow-up phone calls from the Dean's PA, so I agreed to show up and see for myself what goes on in the new building that recently budded off like an amoeba's pseudopod, on the north face of the Health Sciences Centre. Looking around the Faculty board room where we forgathered I realized that I was in the company of high rollers, lavish donors with whom I'd gotten mixed up, presumably because I'd made a modest donation to the Faculty of Medicine a few months ago in memory of Wendy (my donation was actually to our department and is specifically aimed to bring a visiting professor to stimulate our students). The Brain and Mind Research Institute through part of which our small party was soon guided, is not on that wavelength at all. I was suitably impressed by all the fancy hardware that was demonstrated in action by several graduate students (PhD candidates and a post-doc). The cheapest piece of equipment we were shown was a laser electron microscope (you can have your very own for &1.5 million); in the next room we saw one of two side by side that go a stage further, are used to dissect and manipulate dendrites, the extensions that communicate from one nerve cell to another at a junction called a synapse; we saw this in action, on TV screens arranged alongside the dissecting electron microscope; the probe or needle used to carry out the dissection is slightly less than 1 micron in diameter. You can have your own, complete with a vibration-free table on which the equipment stands, for $2 million and change. As I said to a companion alongside me, "No home is complete without one!" I don't think he appreciated my humour. The whole experience was very interesting, but I don't think I will be making any donation large enough to buy two or three more of these costly items. However, I was encouraged to hear that the research they are doing is not confined to a narrow focus on Alzheimer's Disease, but is exploring other unsolved neurological conundrums (including motor neuron disease or ALS); and that there are good linkages to clinical and epidemiological research. The youngsters at the coal-face -- actually doing the research work -- are very impressive, clearly extremely bright, enthusiastic and dedicated. That was the most encouraging aspect of the afternoon's entertainment. I wish them and their research every success.