Medical Detectives
Medical Detectives (University of Edinburgh). A series of public lectures which show that keen detective work is still essential for 21st Century doctors.
Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the lectures highlight the University of Edinburgh's acclaimed medical research. Conan Doyle drew inspiration for his character
Sherlock Holmes when he was a medical student at Edinburgh. He based Holmes on the Professor of Medicine Joseph Bell, who was known for his meticulous attention to
detail. Today's medical sleuths, just like Holmes, must use powers of observation and deduction not only to make the right diagnosis but also to find new treatments.
Why Doesn't the Brain Repair Itself? By Professor Charles ffrench-Constant. The patient disabled by spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis illustrates the consequences of the failure of repair in the brain after injury. But why does this fail? Other tissues such as skin repair very well, so what factors make the brain different?
This talk examines the clues that experiments have given us as to the identity of the culprits. How is current research trying to deal with them, and why might it be that they turned to crime in the first place?
| 20. Why Doesn't the Brain Repair Itself? |
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