 PEF researcher’s
discovery offers hope to brain injured
By SHERRY HALBROOK
A PEF member’s discovery at Helen Hayes Hospital is
creating new hope for people who suffer serious nerve
damage.
Brain and spinal-cord damage in adults, whether from
physical injury or disease, were considered irreversible
in the past because scientists believed that when brain
cells die — unlike blood, bone, muscle or other
cells — they can never be replaced.
Nerve cells are generated primarily during early years,
but recent studies have shown they can be generated at a
low level even in adults.
PEF member Dr. Helen Scharfman found evidence that nerve
cells born in the adult brain can become true,
functioning brain cells. That discovery brings new hope
for treating the effects of stroke, spinal-cord injury,
Alzheimer’s and other neurological ailments.
However, she also found some new nerve cells can
malfunction, demonstrating the need for further studies
before the new information is used to treat patients.
Scientific first
While conducting medical research at Helen Hayes in 1999,
Scharfman was recording electrical activity in brain
cells when she found that following an epileptic seizure
there were new neurons.
“I was trying to record from neurons in the
hippocampal area of the brain, when I suddenly found what
seemed to be new cells,” Scharfman said.
“We were the first to record electrical activity
from them, and the pattern of that activity told us they
were functional neurons and active. It was very exciting
to realize the potential importance of our results.”
Many new questions
Scharfman’s discovery was both thrilling and
frustrating because it threw open a door to hope for
therapies that will require many years of painstaking
research to realize.
“The difficulty for me right now is that there are
only 24 hours in a day,” said Scharfman, who has
joined with Dr. Joseph Pierce at Cornell University to
understand how these new neurons function and why they
often seem to have difficulty reaching the correct area
of the brain.
The scientists received a five-year federal grant late
last year from the National Institute of Neurological
Disability and Stroke to fund their investigations into
the neurons created in the adult brain.
Studies within the last year indicate that cells which
can potentially become new nerve cells may be found in
many parts of the body, but how this happens is not yet
clear, according to Scharfman. And no one had thought
cells from the blood or bone could ever become nerve
cells.
 Takes teamwork
The research is very much a team effort, said Scharfman,
director of the Center for Neural Recovery and
Rehabilitation Research at Helen Hayes Hospital in West
Haverstraw — a leading physical rehabilitation
facility.
“When you are a scientist, you collaborate with many
people,” Scharfman said. “Dr. Pierce is an
expert in electron microscopy and is in an ideal position
to clarify certain aspects of the development and
function of the new cells.
“I identify the new nerve cells and record their
electrical activity,” she said. “I try to find
out how they behave and if they are fully developed. I
want to know if they are excitatory (a kind of
“on” switch), for example.”
“When I finish, I put dye into the cells and send
the tissue to Dr. Pierce for him to examine with the
electron microscope to try to determine their
characteristics visually.
“We know these cells are born after seizures, but
they are not in the right location and don’t seem to
have the correct cues to get to their proper location. We
hope to learn why they become misdirected,”
Scharfman said.
Delicate,
tedious work
“It’s very exciting to be in this
position,” she said. “Everyone is interested in
this area of science, but it’s unlikely the answers
will come quickly.
“Very few of these new brain cells are normally
produced,” Scharfman said. “The ones we want to
study are hard to record from and difficult to manipulate
experimentally. They are very small and deep in the
brain.”
While the new research is creating tremendous excitement
among scientists, “very few people have the
experience and training to do this work,” according
to Scharfman.
“Recording a cell’s electrical activity takes a
lot of training,” she said. “It’s very
slow and difficult, and grants are difficult to obtain.
The recordings and electron microscopy are very labor
intensive.”
That’s why Scharfman says she is so grateful for her
collaborators and the help of her dedicated team at the
Center for Neural Recovery and Rehabilitation Research at
Helen Hayes — PEF member Dr. Jeffrey Goodman and
Anne Sollas, Annmarie Curcio, Russell Berger, Tom
Mercurio and Ruth Marshall, along with summer interns
Sudar Phani, Adam McLeod, Cara Antonelli, James Garrad
and Constantine Demos.
|
The Communicator
September 2002
The Official Online Edition of
The New York State Public Employees
Federation
Inside This
Issue:
Features
PEF backs Pataki re-election
bid
PEF Board votes to back
candidates in ’02 races
PEF joins fight against
soaring Rx costs
Early retirement windows
opening
Q&A on 25/55, ERI
9/11; One Year Later:
‘Everything is different’ since 9/11
PEF fights for counseling
Victims’ families
grateful for PEF’s help
Contributions of PEF
activists missed
PEF to dedicate memorial
Departments
President's Message:
Endorsements and Loyalty
You Said It: Member's
letters this month
Member Mobilization: 8 steps
to success
Legislative Action:
Retirement, whistleblower laws
Nurses' Station: Help make
new future for nursing
Retirees In Action: Lucky to
get 1% COLA
PEF Membership Benefits
Program & Travel Corp
Union Matters
2002 Convention Preview
PEF researcher’s
discovery offers hope
Members show interest in
PS&T negotiations
Division 236 at Parole fully
mobilized
Members at Labor Dept. win
back rights
PEF fights big chemo bills
PEF vets keep wagering safe
bet
PEF wins OT pay
Highlights of PEF Exec
Board’s meeting
Member’s kids wins
scholarships
Support true charities, job
security
GET OUT THE VOTE!
Other Links
Professional Directory
Members' Classified
Member Communicator Feedback
Do You Prefer The Online
Edition?
How To Advertise Here
PEF Pride Store
Last Month's Communicator
The Communicator Staff
Questions on this site?
Email the comwebmaster.
 Register here on the PEF Member
Network.Click on pefonline@pef.org
 Click
Here email notice
when next issue is online
Site Map What's New Search
|