(Part 4 of 7) Mathew Mark Blurton-Jones, a professor at UC-Irvine's Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, spoke at "Synapses Firing: Connections Made", a CIRM-hosted patient advocacy event. The 100+ people in attendance heard from patient advocates about living with neurodegenerative disease and from scientists about recent progress in stem cell research that may lead to new treatments. The event was held on May 7th, 2011 at the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center.