Anatomy of the Name
SynapThreads takes its name from two ideas fused together: 'synap,' from synapse, the point where two neurons meet and pass a signal to each other, the literal mechanism of connection in the brain, and 'threads,' the continuing stories that link one person's experience to another's, and the local chapters that connect our communities city to city. A synapse is connection at the smallest possible scale; a thread is that same idea, lived out between people.
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From a Small Idea to a Global Movement
SynapThreads began with a question: Why do we so often wait until neurological disorders affect someone we love before we begin to understand them?
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For our founder, Skyler Yoo, neuroscience became more than an interest through deeply and painful personal experiences with neurological illness and injury within her own family. Losing her grandmother to Alzheimer’s disease showed her how a neurological disorder can gradually change not only one person’s life, but the lives of everyone who loves and cares for them. Her experiences living with a family member with traumatic brain injury further strengthened her understanding of just how profoundly the brain shapes our memories, relationships, and sense of self.
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Behind every diagnosis is more than a medical condition. There is a person, a family, a story, and often a community trying to understand something they were never prepared for.
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Those experiences left Skyler wanting to turn something painful into something meaningful.
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She began asking what could change if young people learned about neurological disorders before they became personal. What if students could hear directly from neurologists and researchers? What if neuroscience research were made understandable to youth? What if young people could take what they learned beyond a screen and into their communities—connecting with older generations, educating younger students, starting conversations, and creating meaningful moments of human connection?
SynapThreads was created from those questions.
Our ambition reaches beyond awareness alone. We want to help build a generation that approaches neurological disorders with knowledge instead of unfamiliarity, empathy instead of stigma, and action instead of silence.
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What began with one family’s experiences has grown into a much larger purpose:
to turn personal loss into collective action, connect generations through understanding, and empower young people to help create a world where no one has to wait until neurological disorders become personal to start caring about them.
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Our Approach
SynapThreads is a youth-led movement raising awareness for neurological disorders through personal storytelling and community outreach. Connecting people through the thread of human identity.
The Thread Podcast
From intimate one-on-one conversations to full episode series, we transform personal stories of neurological disorders into a shared space where pediatric patients, seniors, and students find connection, understanding, and hope.
Threads of Care
We work hand-in-hand with local hospitals, senior centers, and student communities to co-create each Thread chapter. This ensures every outreach effort is locally rooted, genuinely welcomed, and built to last.
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Generational Connectivity
Bridging the gap between the youngest and oldest voices in neuroscience awareness. We ensure every generation, from a child in a hospital bed to a senior in memory care, has a thread connecting them to understanding.