Brain scan offers medical insight

As autumn sunshine sparkles across a Wright County lake, it's easy for the mind drift.

Within earshot of the waves, as he inspects a fishing rod, lake resident Gary Lindmeyer's thoughts float north -- lured by what's to come.

"Joan and I are going. Our hunting is now just the two of us. Do some grouse hunting," predicts Lindmeyer.

With their annual trip north approaching, Gary and Joan Lindmeyer sit at their dining table reviewing the trusty list.

"I don't want to take as much up, this first time," cautions Joan.

If only life was as simple as a list.

"That's true, there's always that unknown," reflects Gary.

The couple's memory easily drifts back nearly a decade to one of those unknowns.

Joan recalls a painful incident in their garage. While getting out of their SUV she "ended up falling right on the ground on my knees."

The fall, and ensuing slow recovery eventually helped shed light on an illness that took more than a check-list diagnosis. Joan still remembers the conversation with the doctor. "And he said to me that I had Sjogren's," recalls Joan.

As defined by the Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation, it is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system attacks moisture producing glands.

As Joan puts it, "Everything gets dry."

It can dry-out eyes, the mouth, and skin among others.

"I carry a water bottle with me when I go places. I did that before it became fashionable," says Joan.

Looking back, Joan suspects she had Sjogren's years before diagnosis. That's typical according to experts.

The Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation says on-set to diagnosis on average is more than six years.

"You've got to live your life, so you just adjust to it. And you deal with whatever comes up," says Joan.

Last summer what came up was an opportunity. Gary read an article in the newspaper about a brain test to diagnose brain-related diseases, including Sjogren's. It was research being done locally here in Minnesota.

Gary remembers "But I was more than willing to drive 60 miles to the V.A. to do this."

Inside the Minneapolis V.A., at the Brain Sciences Center, University of Minnesota Neuroscience professor, Dr. Apostolos Georgopoulos is studying, in simple terms brain-cell chatter or to put it another way, brain-interaction patterns.

Sitting at his desk, he notes an image on his computer. "This is brain pattern of a normal subject," says Georgopoulos.

It's a fingerprint so-to-speak of a healthy brain pattern. Dr. Georgopoulos then makes a comparison by changing the images on the screen.

"This is the normal. This is an Alzheimer's person."

Like the healthy brain pattern, Alzheimer's also has a unique fingerprint - truly remarkable when you consider Doctor Georgopoulos found multiple Alzheimer's patients with a similar fingerprint.

"Hard to believe. I thought something interesting here," reflects Georgopoulos.

In fact, Doctor Georgopoulos discovered brain-interaction-pattern groupings for healthy brains, those with Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic alcoholism, schizophrenia, and "people with Sjogren's Syndrome."

As high-tech as this discovery sounds, the test is quite quick.

"The test takes five minutes. It's real simple," says Joan Lindmeyer.

Joan and Gary made that trip to V.A. to help the Brain Sciences Center in its work.

"We've always said knowledge is power," says Joan.

In a corner of the V.A. sits the so-called MEG device. It's a special chamber that has a big door, much like a bank-vault. Inside, there's a bed, and a special place for subjects to place their head. Once in place, the brain cell chatter of subjects like Joan Lindmeyer is recorded.

Joan recalls, "You look at this dot, and even for me with my dry eyes, it wasn't that much of a problem."

In Dr. Georgopoulos' estimation, "For this science, they contribute mightily, because every single brain we sample is pure gold."

Beyond Joan and Gary's (He was tested as a control) participation, roughly 300 people had joined in the Brain Sciences Center's research by mid-October. Part of that group includes about 10 American Legion members. It was after all, American Legion Posts of Minnesota which helped raise money to establish the American Legion Family's Brain Sciences Chair which Dr. Georgopoulos holds.

The doctor foresees his research leading to faster diagnosis and in turn earlier treatment. Also, it'll help evaluate how well a drug works.

"Instead of waiting 4 to 6 weeks to see what's happening in behavior, we can assess the brain changes. The brain function changes much earlier," says Georopoulos.

Joan's mom Violet Jacobson also suffered from Sjogren's. "We probably could've done a lot better for her, if we would've known she had it," reflects Joan.

Mindful of her mom and others, Joan's done her part for science. Now, she thirsts for answers. As Joan puts it, "Maybe they'll find something that can help people."

The Brain Sciences Center is still accepting people into its study. For more information, call 612-725-2282.

By Greg Vandegrift, KARE 11 News

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