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K.C. Brennan

I trained as a physician but had the good fortune to discover the laboratory
just before medical school. I cannot imagine a better job than trying to solve, in the
lab, the problems one encounters in the clinic.

My fundamental interest is to understand cortical spreading depression. This propagating wave of cortical activity is conserved from humans, down through primates and rodents, to turtles, fish, and even locusts. It appears to be a basic characteristic of brain, yet we have no idea why it exists. If we can figure out how and why CSD occurs, we will understand the brain much better.

Beyond the basic science, CSD is known to occur in diseases of humans - migraine, stroke, brain trauma, and probably epilepsy. Understanding CSD, and perhaps modulating it, could make a huge difference in how we think about and treat these diseases.

Most of my time is spent in the lab, but I maintain a consultant clinical practice in severe headache disorders as part of UCLA's Headache Research and Treatment Program. I also see general neurology patients at the Venice Family Clinic and at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

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