Significant advances have been made in understanding the basic brain anatomy of cognitive functions. In particular, advances in neurogenetics and neuroimaging have advanced our understanding of both normal brain function and dysfunction in disease. Delineation of the pathways of brain development and degeneration hold great promise for targeted manipulations. Schizophrenia remains a chronic disorder whose treatment is unsatisfactory in a significant minority of patients. Mood and anxiety disorders remain woefully underdiagnosed and undertreated, and many patients still suffer needlessly from chronic pain, including the pain of terminal illness.
Drug addiction remains a significant problem and drain on national resources.
Although the decade ahead offers much promise, particularly for retarding neurodegeneration and stimulating brain repair mechanisms, many scientific lessons have already been learned that require our attention to translate into improved clinical practice. Copyright 1995-2001 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.