Brain Awareness Week – highlighting the importance of research in the treatment of brain disease

Posted: 11/03/2024

Brain Awareness Week, which runs from 11 – 17 March this year, is a global campaign to both raise public awareness of the benefits of brain research and increase support for its progression. Such research is essential to understanding common brain diseases.

During the awareness week, communities, charities and organisations, including colleges and universities, hospitals, medical research facilities, professional associations and government agencies, arrange informative activities to educate others about the importance of key research in this area.

This work is conducted with the goal of understanding the prevention, treatment, and possible cures for brain diseases, including stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s, and depression. Every year, the Dana Foundation offers grants to event organisers.

The importance of stroke awareness and research on improving outcomes is highlighted here. While stroke still occurs once every five minutes in the UK, the number of deaths from stroke are reducing.

Where a hypoxic brain injury has been sustained by a neonate, research has focused on limiting the damage using therapeutic cooling. Continuing investigation in this area is essential to reduce the ongoing cognitive impact on children and to accurately assess appropriate compensation levels for the injuries they have sustained.

The human brain is a remarkable organ, functioning as the control centre for an individual’s sensations, as well as their nervous and intellectual activity.

There are three main areas of the brain:

• the cerebrum – this is the front and larger part of the brain, and is responsible for the senses, thinking and memory;
• the cerebellum – this is the smaller and back part of the brain, which is mainly responsible for motor control;
• the brain stem - this is the oldest part of the brain in evolutionary terms, and is linked by the spinal cord to the rest of the body. It is responsible for all unconscious activities, such as breathing.

When the brain is impaired, whether by disease, trauma, infection or lack of oxygen, the impact can be wide-ranging, affecting a person’s ability to move, speak, remember, and interpret stimuli, as well as potentially impacting their cognitive function and behaviour. The extent of the impairment will depend on the area and the severity of the damage.

We regularly act for individuals who have suffered significant impairments to the brain. The impact of their impairments is far-reaching, such that they may be dependent on others for their care, with a need for therapies, aids and equipment to support their day to day living.

While there have been many significant advances in brain disease research over the past decade, it is as important as ever that this programme of research continues to help people of all ages with treatments and new technology that improve their condition, or even halt its course.

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