Imagine a third year medical student seeing the human brain for the first time and being captivated by its beauty and complexity. Imagine being so spellbound and overwhelmed that he made the study of the brain his life’s work.  That student is now Distinguished Professor Sir Dr Richard Faull, who conveyed that fascination and excitement  to hundreds of U3A members in Cambridge last week.   

Dr Faull delighted his audience even before he spoke, by walking along the rows and rows of seats, introducing himself, shaking hands, and warmly greeting some people in particular. 

These were people who had donated the brain of a loved family member to the Research Centre. Described as ‘an incredible gift’, each brain donation has allowed Dr Faull to create a world leading brain bank, from which tissue is supplied to all countries, the ‘United Nations of the Brain’.   How brilliant that New Zealand is leading the world in this area. 

Dr Faull charmed the audience with his humanity and humour, as he explained  with clear diagrams about a serious and often uncomfortable topic.: The marvels of the human brain and the challenges of Alzheimers and the Ageing brain.  

An amusing cartoon of the brain showed clearly the way different folds in the brain control different parts of human functioning- language, movement, vision, etc.  Remarkably, a person who has lost the ability to speak, (aphasia) can usually sing, as singing uses a different part of the brain. 

With many entertaining and often poignant examples, DR Faull demonstrated why he calls our brain  ‘a universe inside our head’, packed with 90 billions cells, all with different shapes, size, patterns and chemistry. 

Scientific experiments on rats and monkeys have advanced understanding of the human brain, and Dr Faull’s work can add post mortem analysis of human brains to this pool of knowledge. 

In studying the normal and diseased human brain (Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and epilepsy), the most revolutionary discovery was that stem cells are still present in the adult human brain and have the potential to make new brain cells and repair the brain throughout life. With one in three New Zealanders affected by brain disease, this research is essential. 

Hot off the press was the finding about Huntington’s disease, released just the day before. Dr Faull showed a diseased brain with large spaces, which are now known to be caused by a specific gene affecting the basal ganglia. This discovery opens a pathway to potential treatment, using the knowledge that the brain does make new brain cells. It is expected that gene therapy will slow down the progress of Huntington’s by 75%. 

With our heads spinning with this new knowledge, Dr Faull laughed, ‘Now you are all little neurologists’. 

But little neurologists needed to know what to do on an individual level. In a conversational and compassionate manner, he spoke about Alzheimer’s disease, where a third of the brain is ‘killed by bad proteins’. There is no single cause and no single drug to slow down this complex  disease but research continues. 

While it is not possible at present to cure or even prevent dementia, it is possible and highly desirable to keep the brain healthy, for a good quality of life. ‘What is good for the heart is good for the brain’ was the message.  He listed risk factors, attention to which can lower the chances of dementia by 50% 

These include health, diet, cognitive activities, physical activity, social interaction, hearing loss, depression/low mood and genes. .More can be seen on Brain health for adults 

Sir Richard’s advice: “as long as you live, protect your brain, it is a marvellous thing’. 

He grew up in a rural Taranaki family where the philosophy was, ‘Make sure you help the people’.  Dr Faull has certainly done that, and for the Cambridge u3a members he also provided a very accessible and engaging level of knowledge and understanding about brain research , ageing and brain disease. Not only was there great pride that a New Zealander is leading the world in this area, but a deep sense of gratitude for his humane and charming manner. 

As one member commented, as well as the science of the brain, he showed us his heart and soul.