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 on January 01, 1992
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)
Tags:
aids virus,
amnesiacs,
brain,
brain chemical,
brain mapping,
central nervous system,
clinical neurosciences,
Decade of the Brain,
declaration of congress,
enormous significance,
genetic vulnerability,
health points,
institute of mental health,
mental disorder,
mental mapping,
national institute of mental health,
network database,
neural circuitry,
receptor systems,
research,
schizophrenia research,
schizophrenics,
systematic screening,
temporal lobe
