Verified by Big Time for the Brain
Reports that this is the decade of the brain, according to a declaration of Congress. A federally sponsored push to accelerate the extraordinary pace of research advances in the basic and clinical neurosciences relevant to mental illness; Special goals; Findings of enormous significance.
By PT Staff published January 1, 1992 - last reviewed on June 9, 2016
Mental Mapping
To the Chinese, this is the Year of the Serpent. But to Americans it's the year of the brain. Actually, this is the "Decade of the Brain," according to a declaration of Congress, and we're already two years into it.
Not a description of legislative talent, the so-called Decade of the Brain is a federally sponsored push to "accelerate the extraordinary pace of research advances in the basic and clinical neurosciences relevant to mental illness." Neuroscience is now the fastest-growing research area in the biomedical sciences.
And just in time: The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that mental disorders affect approximately 15 to 20% of the U.S. population annually.
Special goals targeted during the Decade of the Brain include: schizophrenia research speeding the new-drug search by systematic screening of compounds on central-nervous-system receptor systems understanding the genetic vulnerability to major mental disorders and how it operates brain mapping of neural circuitry in the hopes of creating a neural-network database an understanding of the precise action of the AIDS, virus on the brain an understanding of how mental illness develops in children and adolescents.
It's still too early to get a comprehensive picture of progress, but the National Institute of Mental Health points to three findings of enormous significance: 1) the discovery of temperal-lobe shrinkage in amnesiacs, suggesting the possibility of detecting specific structural abnormalities underlying the kinds of cognitive impairment seen in psychotics; 2) identification of the specific brain chemical (D1 dopamine receptor) involved in a type of memory important for decision-making but impaired in schizophrenics, which opens the door to finding more effective treatments; and 3) the discovery of signs of braincell-membrane dysfunction in first-episode schizophrenics, pointing to new early treatments for the disorder.
And they think it will take only 10 years to figure out the brain!
PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE)
