Product Description

Nancy Andreasen, a leading neuroscientist who is also Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious American Journal of Psychiatry as well as the winner of the illustrious National Medal of Science, offers here a state-of-the-art look at what we know about the human brain and the human genome-and shows how these two vast branches of knowledge are coming together in a boldly ambitious effort to conquer mental illness. Scientists today know more about the brain than ever before, thanks to new imaging techniques and to discoveries in neuroscience and molecular biology. Andreasen gives us an engaging and readable description of how it all works, from the billions of neurons to the tiny thalamus to the moral monitor in our prefrontal cortex. She also shows the progress made in mapping the human genome, whose 30,000-40,000 genes are almost all active in the brain. In perhaps the most fascinating section of the book, we read gripping stories of the people who develop mental illness, the friends and relatives who share their suffering, the physicians who treat them, and the scientists who study them so that better treatments can be found. This section covers four major disorders-schizophrenia, manic depression, anxiety disorders, and dementia-revealing what causes them, what happens to the mind and brain, and how the illnesses are treated. Finally, the book shows how the powerful tools of genetics and neuroscience will be combined during the next decades to build healthier brains and minds. Andreasen's bestselling The Broken Brain broke new ground in the public understanding of mental illness. Now, by revealing how combining genome mapping with brain mapping can unlock the mysteries of mental illness, she again offers general readers a remarkably fresh perspective on these devastating diseases-their nature, treatment, and possible future prevention.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #604046 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 390 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
After centuries of outsiders carping about scientific reductionism, the promised synthesis is finally on its way. Immunology, genetics, medicine, neurology and other fields are starting to overlap more and more, and prominent neuropsychiatrist Nancy C Andreasen explores one exciting intersection in Brave New Brain. The author's broad understanding and straightforward writing offer readers a penetrating glimpse into new and future treatments for mental illness. Focusing on four devastating maladies (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and dementia), she shows what scientists have learned about them recently thanks to powerful imaging and biochemical tools. This knowledge, growing exponentially and integrated with data from diverse scientific research including the Human Genome Project, is used to propose mechanisms underlying diseases and potential cures--from genetic repair to bold new pharmacologic interventions.

Well-illustrated and lucidly explained, the book is an excellent lay primer on the brain and its disorders. Though Andreasen's prose isn't as elegant as some of her colleagues', it is clear and always to the point; many readers will appreciate the lack of distraction from the book's content. The hope she holds out to sufferers of mental illness, if not immediately promising, is certainly brighter than has been offered in recent years. Despite its moderately sinister title, Brave New Brain is an enlightening and even uplifting look at the convergence of several important scientific disciplines. --Rob Lightner

Review
This book is very well written and appropriately pitched for the general educated lay person; it is also an enjoyable read for health professionals and researchers ... This book is certain to be well received and widely read. Heredity, 89

About the Author
Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., is Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at The University of Iowa College of Medicine. The Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Psychiatry and a member of the task force that developed both the DSM III and DSM IV, she has won numerous awards, has written ten other books and hundreds of articles. Her previous book for general readers, The Broken Brain, was the first to describe the importance of neurobiology to
understanding mental illness. She lives in Iowa City and Santa Fe.

Customer Reviews

Brave New Brain
Brave New Brain is an excellent, very readable and informative text on the complete subject of the functioning of the brain as it relates primarily to mental disorders. The author is an excellent writer, an extremely knowledgeable expert, and a compassionate human being. If there were more Nancy Adreasens, I don't believe the condition of medical care (especially for mental disorders) would be in the shambles it is currently. George W. should read and maybe he would not change his mind and political stance and then push his Republican Supreme Court to reach decisions as they have recently.