On Saturday, Dr. James Connor spoke to an audience of about 350 in the Thomas building about an ailment that affects more than 4 million Americans -- Alzheimer's disease.

The speech kicked off the first of five lectures for the 2007 Frontiers of Science lecture series with "Metals in Your Brain: How to Stop Your Brain From Rusting its way to Alzheimer's Disease."

Connor, vice chairman of neurosurgery at Hershey Medical Center, explained how different metals in the brain affect diseases like Alzheimer's.

According to Connor, more than 4 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's disease. It begins in its earliest stages with slow memory decline, and as time goes on, deterioration occurs in the patient's personality, language, reasoning and judgement, orientation, learning, daily living tasks and eventually, motor skills.

Currently, there is no specific diagnostic marker or markers in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's, he said.

He said brain tissue provides information for exploring the disease. The brain contains about 100 billion nerve cells. These cells are connected by synapses that pass signals from nerve cell to nerve cell in the form of a neurotransmitter.

Alzheimer's disease disrupts how these signals travel in the brain. Eventually, the disease leads to nerve cell death and tissue loss in the brain, shrinking it drastically, affecting nearly all brain functions, he said.

Connor said metals such as zinc, iron, copper, cobalt, chromium and aluminum are essential in the functioning of a healthy brain. His research focuses on whether these metals, in large amounts, can affect the brain negatively.

Zinc is a metal found in the Hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for short-term memory. While zinc is essential for healthy brain function, too much can lead to a buildup of plaque -- which inhibits signals from the nerve cells, he said.

Hemochromatosis, which causes iron overload in the body, is caused by a mutation in a gene known as HFE. Scientists are suggesting that HFE mutations may increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that there could be a genetic disposition for the illness, he said.

An imbalance of iron can promote a greater uptake of cobalt, chromium and other metals which could have negative effects on the brain, he said.

According to Connor, research is currently underway to explore Alzheimer's disease and solutions.

John Beard, professor of nutritional sciences, has known Connor for more than 15 years and felt the lecture content was important. "It really is something that affects so many families and individuals," he said. "It's very real [and] very prevalent," Beard said.

Alat Tigunait (freshman-biobehavioral health) said she enjoyed the lecture. "I had gone to another one and I thought he did a really good job of bringing it to a level we could understand," she said. "I want to continue going to the whole series."

Connor said he felt his lecture and the lecture series was beneficial for the community. "I think it's part of our responsibility as scientists to work in educating the public as much as we can," he said.

The Frontiers of Science lecture series began in 1995 as a "grassroots effort" from a couple of professors in the physics department. Thirteen years later, it has become quite a success, Barbara Kennedy, director of college public information for the Eberly College of Science, said. The five-part lecture series will be held at 11 a.m. every Saturday until Feb. 24 in 100 Thomas.