University Daily Kansan / Thursday, January 14, 1988
3
Campus/Area
Ralph N. Adams, professor of chemistry, and Arvin Oke, assistant scientist for the chemistry department, are using imported brains for their research on the disorder schizophrenia.
Scientists study schizophrenia
By Julie Adam
Kansan staff writer
Although two KU scientists have not found the cure for schizophrenia, their research could be a big step toward that goal.
The two scientists, Ralph Adams, professor of chemistry, and Arvin Oke, assistant scientist for the chemistry department, have found strong evidence that high concentrations of the chemical dopamine in a brain the brain dealing with sensory functions may be related to schizophrenia.
That part of the brain, the thalamus, is an area neglected by most researchers because there is normal brainamine found there. Adams said.
In eight of nine schizophrenic brains Adams and Oke analyzed, they found 50 to 200 percent greater concentrations of dopamine in the thalami than normal brains. Adams said that in 18 normal thalami he studied, low levels of dopamine were found.
Schizophrenic patients don't see, hear or feel the outside world as normal people do, Oke said. Schizophrenics talk and act as if they receive different sensory information than normal people do. Since all children with schizophrenia have thalamus, Adams and Oke began researching that area.
The KU scientists began their research about six years ago.
"It was really quite a surprise because we'd been looking at the thalamus in normal brains and saw interesting patterns in other systems. We were dealing with this area of the brain in other areas of interest," Oke said.
An article of their research is printed in the current issue of Schizophrenia Bulletin, published by the National Institute of Mental Health. They said they waited to publish their research until they had obtained enough data to support their findings.
"If what we find continues to be found and it is correct, then it is wrong."
Adams said.
Adams said he wouldn't call their findings a major breakthrough because they would like to analyze more brains to solidify their hypothesis.
Adams said they received the brain banks around the world.
"It is much easier to get brains in Europe because they have higher autosv privileges," he said.
Many of the schizophrenic brains they have received came from Sweden. The brains are frozen immediately after they are taken from the body and kept at -70 degrees Celsius until they can be analyzed.
Adams and Oke said they slice the brains into 3-millimeter thick sections on a mechanical slicer in order to determine patterns of different kinds of chemical concentrations.
"We picked an area that isn't supposed to have high levels of dopamine and, lo and behold, we found it. We were interested in the thalamus from that viewpoint," Adams said.
Adams and Oke said they were excited about their findings but wanted to do more detailed research on the subject. Adams said that although some research had shown that high levels of dopamine in the brain might be linked to schizophrenia, none of the research in this area was conclusive.
It also has not been determined whether the dopamine levels are linked to the disorder or if it is due to other factors, such as the medications that are used to treat this disorder, Oke said.
Class shuffle confuses all but students still victorious
By a Kansan reporter
Roulette 101
When Paul Northam, a graduate teaching assistant, walked into 118 Fraser Hall at 2:30 p.m. yesterday, he thought he would be teaching a business writing section of English 360
But his students told him differently.
Most of the 24 students in the class had enrolled in critical writing, said Barbara Paris, an administrative officer in the English department.
The mix-up started last semester
when the course's original instructor,
Allen Valk, was called away to teach
another English class. Valk is filling
in for another instructor who is not
teaching at the University of Kansas
this semester.
Paris said that Northam was then asked to teach the section. He agreed to teach it only if the class was turned into a business writing section. By doing this, he could already have been printed showing the section as a critical writing class.
So, Paris said, English department officials decided to wait until yesterday to find out if any students in the class objected to the change.
Paris said many students objected because the critical writing course was required for some education majors.
Paris also said that Northam would teach the class as critical writing, and added, "I think it's going to work out."
Scorer gets a test
Bv Kathleen Faddis
Kansan staff writer
Poring over essay exams into the wee hours may become a thing of the past for history instructors.
"From an instructor's standpoint, it will do in about five minutes what would normally take about two hours," said Mark Connolly, assistant instructor in history.
Scan-tron, an automated test-scoring machine being considered for use by the history department, might make it easier for professors to give their students objective tests instead of essay tests.
Connolly introduced the device to the department. He said the device had been used for years in schools where he taught previously.
Freshmen and sophomores
The machine can tabulate responses on multiple choice exams, total the correct points, and help determine bad questions by showing how many students missed each question. It is similar to a test scoring service already available in Strong Hall.
would benefit from objective tests because they have less experience and can't compete as well with the older students on essay tests, Connally said. It also would save time for instructors teaching survey courses with more than 300 students, he said.
Norman Saul, chairman of the history department, said the department had not yet decided whether to use the machine. He said if it was used, it probably would be on a voluntary basis.
Automated testing might best be used to handle the volume of large-scale testing at the end of introductory courses, Saul said.
But the initial reaction from the department has been less than enthusiastic. Connolly said he thought there was a fear of technology, and the reaction had been "thoroughly negative."
Rita Napier, associate professor of history, said, "I think it would be a disaster.
"The essence of history is the critical and analytical approach and it is not possible to test that with simply objective tests."