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December 5, 2003|Volume 32, Number 13



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Graduate student Josh Hunsberger is studying the benefits of physical exercise in treating depression. The neuroscientist and triathlon athlete says he refused to let dyslexia stand in the way of his accomplishments.



Dyslexia has been hurdle for scientist
and 'Ironman' competitor

Graduate student Josh Hunsberger is a neuroscientist and triathlete who plays lead roles in community theater and sings with an a cappella group -- yet he has a disability that seriously impacts his life.

Hunsberger is dyslexic. Learning to read was a painful experience, and "reading is still a difficult process for me," he admits.

The graduate student's struggles with reading began early on. Because he wasn't making progress using conventional methods, in second grade he was taught to use a manual alphabet, American Sign Language, in order to decode letters into sounds and sounds into meaningful words. His brain could interpret what his hands were doing better than what his eyes were seeing, he says.

His mother, a speech and language pathologist, and his step-father, a pharmaceutical scientist, put in a great deal of effort to keep him mainstreamed with his classmates, Hunsberger recalls, but by his junior year at East Lyme High School, the volume of reading threatened to overwhelm him. He was taking several Advanced Placement courses, and while he had no problem with the concepts, he couldn't keep up with the quantity of assigned reading, he says. At that point, Hunsberger was tested and diagnosed with a learning disorder. The diagnosis allowed him special accommodations, like extended time to take exams and use of the resource room, both in high school and at Wesleyan University, where he earned his B.S. in neuroscience in 2001.

Today, Hunsberger still needs extra time for tasks that involve reading and writing, but his disability hasn't stopped him from doing state-of-the-art research in the molecular psychiatry laboratory of Dr. Ronald Duman, the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, who is based at the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

There, Hunsberger studies the beneficial effects of physical exercise in treating depression. Current treatment of depression has focused on altering neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) called monoamines, such as serotonin, he explains. While these treatments increase monoamines immediately, the drugs must be taken for several weeks before their anti-depressant effects can be seen, notes Hunsberger, who is investigating the adaptations the body must undergo before achieving the desired therapeutic response.

In particular, he is studying neurotrophic factors. "Neurotrophic factors are molecules that promote survival and plasticity in brain cells," he explains, noting that these factors may help brain cells survive stressful events.

Hunsberger is using a microarray -- a glass slide imprinted with many genes -- to identify novel neurotrophic factors regulated by exercise. He hopes that improved treatments for managing depression will result from identifying these factors and exploring how they function. Hunsberger presented his current research at a neuroscience conference in New Orleans on Nov. 12.

Both exercise and depression have played important roles in Hunsberger's personal life as well, says the student. His biological father suffers from bipolar disorder for which he has been hospitalized many times. His mother is a long-distance runner. She introduced Hunsberger to the sport when he was a child, and, after training on "fun runs," he ran his first marathon as a high school senior: 26.2 miles in three hours and 20 minutes. That time qualified him for the Boston Marathon, but he was too young to register for it. Since then, he has run marathons in Boston, Hartford and East Lyme.

Not content with distance running, Hunsberger began cycling and swimming, and has competed in triathlons as well as Half Ironman competitions.

Triathlons come in many different sizes, notes Hunsberger. The sprint triathlon involves a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike race and three-mile run. The Olympic version is a one-mile swim, 25-mile bike race and six-mile run. Half Ironman distances are 1.2 mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run.

Hunsberger not only goes the distance in all these types of triathlons, he does it quickly: He came in first in his age group in the 2003 Madison (CT) Triathlon, and he placed second in his age group at the 2003 Firmman Half Ironman.

Somehow, Hunsberger has also found time for theater and music. After a lively acting and singing career in high school and college, he played Curly in the Hamden Community Theater's 2001 production of "Oklahoma" and last year, joined the Yale Graduate School's a cappella singing group, The Citations.

The Yale student was honored in November as a past recipient of the Governor's Coalition for Youth with Disabilities Award. Hunsberger received the honor -- which is presented by a volunteer partnership of business, labor, educational, government and community leaders -- during his senior year of high school (1997). He says that this recognition for his academic achievements fueled his desire to pursue higher education and instilled in him a belief in his ability to overcome obstacles.

-- By Gila Reinstein


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Groundbreakings celebrate construction of new chemistry and
engineering buildings

Eire autobiography wins National Book Award

Dyslexia has been hurdle for scientist and 'Ironman' competitor


ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

In Focus: Center for Faith and Culture

Center aims to ease patients' anxiety about breast cancer

Noël Valis' book awarded Modern Language Association prize

Journalist reports greater willingness to talk openly in China

City students to study Shakespeare in new Yale Rep program

Drama School to stage Wilder's play about 'First Family'

Human evolution preserved in 'pseudogenes,' say scientists

Study: Mother's anti-depressant doesn't affect her nursing baby

Study shows spiritual belief and prayer can aid high-risk youth

The Fine Art of Shopping

'Sacred spaces' on campus featured in new calendar

Alternative Gift Market allows shoppers to help the world's poor

Pepper Center awards will support research related to aging process

Scientists to refine literacy game with support from grant

Dr. Barry Kacinski dies; renowned for work in field of DNA repair

Leon Clark dies; his work enhanced understanding of other cultures

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes


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