Neurodegenerative Diseases
As a group, the major neurodegenerative diseases, i.e., Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and Huntington’s Disease, significantly affect the quality of life. Our research programs focus on development of novel means for the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Our goal is to ameliorate the adverse effects of these diseases and improve the patients’ quality of life. The clinical research program utilizes our access to Parkinson’s disease patients and focuses not only on Parkinson’s Disease per se but also on balance disorders. Research programs in cognitive-behavioral domains are focused on implementing novel methods of intervention for distressed caregivers of older adults with disabling neurological conditions, and state of the art telehealth and family care giving initiatives. Other research programs examine the role of melatonin in sleep disorders and its relationship to cognitive decline in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. Our basic science research programs also includes a focus on temporal lobe epilepsy, and discovery of novel treatments for working memory deficits. Our plans for the future include using advanced structural and functional imaging technology to supplement and expand the clinical and basic science programs.