Of all the organs in the human body none are more vital to determining who we are than the one located inside your head.
The brain is more complex and sophisticated than the world's most powerful supercomputers. While it only weighs about three pounds, it contains billions of brain cells that generate more than 50,000 thoughts per day.
Our brains are wired, literally, by a complicated network of connections that – if stretched end-to-end – would measure thousands of kilometres.
This web of connectivity is as unique as a fingerprint.
But the brain is also fragile. And it's easy to find evidence of this all around us. Just ask any one of the thousands of Canadians who experience a malfunctioning of basic brain function and health each year.
From dementia and Parkinson's disease, to stroke and epilepsy, the number of diseases, disorders and injuries of the brain, spinal cord and nervous system now exceeds 1,000.
The price tag for neurodegenerative diseases alone is about $60 billion, and as our population ages, these expenses are only expected to grow.
It's for this reason University Health Network (UHN) has established the Krembil Brain Institute at Toronto Western Hospital.
This new institute brings together the doctors, nurses and other clinical care leaders at the world-renowned Krembil Neuroscience Centre with UHN's researchers and neuroscientists at the Krembil Research Institute.
