| Issue date: Jan 3, 1999
Getting inside your head
Breakthroughs are changing
the way we think about the brain
By Jim Thornton
Thornton received a 1998 National Magazine Award for health reporting.
The
brain yields its secrets
Special Report:
The Brain
 The
"Brain index"
 s a philosopher once suggested, if the human brain were simple enough
to understand, we would be too simpleminded to comprehend it.
Even as you read these words, your own brain is analyzing and
processing information with an alacrity that makes the world's fastest
supercomputer seem like a baby's toy in comparison. The minimum
number of possible thought patterns, a psychologist once calculated,
is the numeral 1 followed by 6 1/2 miles of typed zeros.
Begrudgingly, this incredibly complex organ has begun to yield
its secrets. Fast strides are being made in the wide spectrum of
brain disorders, from anxiety and depression to Alzheimer's and
schizophrenia - once considered among the most intractable of human
afflictions.
The answers are coming from:
- Molecular genetics, which yields a fundamental new understanding
of the building blocks of the brain. For instance, government
researchers recently discovered a mouse gene that influences fearfulness.
This foreshadows effective treatments for people whose fears get
stuck in the "on" position. In a few years, scientists may know
the complete human DNA sequence, or genome.
- Psychopharmacologists, who continue to discover new
insights into brain chemicals, from neurotransmitters such as
serotonin and dopamine to once mysterious molecules such as substance
P (see page 6). Scientists now know of hundreds of complex molecules
that play a role in the biochemical orchestration of how we think,
feel and act.
- New tools. Turbocharging the onrush of insights are
state-of-the-art, non-invasive imaging technologies, such as positron
emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging
(fMRI), which allow neuroscientists to peek at the brain at work.
Within five years, fMRI, together with a technology called MEG
(magnetoencephalography), promises "real-time" movies of brain
circuitry in action. The possibility for studying - and rectifying
- everything from learning disabilities to post-traumatic stress
disorder is exhilarating.
"Progress," says Steven Hyman, M.D., director of the National
Institute of Mental Health, "is just moving faster and faster."
Catch up with the latest news with this special report on
your brain.
Go to top
This week's articles
on the brain and behavior:
TIDBITS
A
map of the brain
What
made Einstein so special?
The
effects of sports injuries on the brain
Why
do kids beat adults at video games?
BREAKTHROUGHS
How
strep throat can make children mentally ill.
Why
a drug that blocks "substance P" offers new hope for
the depressed.
Why
the female brain is like a Swiss army knife.
SEX AND
BRAIN DIFFERENCES
The
biology of why men don't ask for directions.
Test
your male or female "mental map."
Why
women are twice as likely to be depressed.
TREATMENT
15
ways to think better.
Get
the most from today's drugs
How
pills might curb angry mates.
How
to control your emotional wellness.
How
to respond to a friend in pain.
5
foods that boost your mood.
WBE SITES
For
some more web sites with brain facts and fun click
here.
Photo Illustration by JAMES PORTO for USA WEEKEND
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