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Cerebrum 2007: Emerging Ideas in Brain Science

Foreword by Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D.

    Contributors: Margaret Altemus, M.D. • Nicolas G. Bazan, M.D., Ph.D. • Louis R. Caplan, M.D. • Diane C. Chugani, Ph.D. • Jacek Debiec, M.D., Ph.D. • Kathleen M. Foley, M.D. • Henry T. Greely, J.D. • Shelly R. Gunn, M.D., Ph.D. • W. Stewart Gunn • Bruce Hood, Ph.D. • Gale Inoff-Germain • Donald W. Pfaff, Ph.D. • Judith L. Rapoport, M.D. • Kayt Sukel • Maia Szalavitz • Kevin J. Tracey, M.D. • Paul M. Matthews, M.D., D. Phil. • Silvia H. Cardoso, Ph.D. • Lesley J. Rogers, D.Sc., D. Phil. • Gisela Kaplan, Ph.D. • Joseph J. Fins, M.D. • Nicholas D. Schiff, M.D. • David Huron, Ph.D. • Edward McKintosh, MRCS

    “Bruce McEwen lays the foundation for this thoughtful integration of ideas from experts in various neuroscientific disciplines addressing real-world problems.... I found this volume to be unusually elegantly written for its genre and worthwhile enough that I went online and asked to be included in the Dana Foundation's distribution list for future such compilations. Given how much professional literature I consume, I suppose that this action is as strong an endorsement as I could make!”

    —Review by John E. Ruark, M.D., in PsycCRITIQUES, the book review publication of the American Psychological Association, Vol. 52, Release 44, Article 11

    Cerebrum, a one-of-a-kind journal of opinion since 1998, offers inquisitive lay readers insights from prominent neuroscientists and thinkers in fields from philosophy to public policy to the arts. In frequently quoted articles, these authors present, applaud, and protest new ideas arising from discoveries about the brain.

    Cerebrum 2007 inaugurates a yearly anthology for readers who like provocative ideas that are transforming every area of our lives. It brings together more than a dozen articles and book reviews from the journal’s Web edition. Readers will be among the first to hear top experts deliver, in concise lay language, what will be tomorrow’s conventional wisdom on topics such as the biological nature of ethical behavior, the brain basis for belief in the supernatural, the science of music, and drugs to alter traumatic memories.             

    Cerebrum is published by the Dana Foundation, which has principal interests in science and education. The volume is edited by Cynthia Read, editor of the online journal.

    Table of Contents

    Introduction: Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D.

    Chapter 1: Stroke: We Can and Must Do Better--Improving Stroke Prevention and Treatment Now, Louis R. Caplan, M.D.

    Chapter 2: Searching for a New Strategy to Protect the Brain, Nicolas Bazan, M.D., Ph.D.

    Chapter 3: Why Not a National Institute on Pain Research?, Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., with Maia Szalavitz

    Chapter 4: A Brain Built for Fair Play, Donald W. Pfaff, Ph.D.

    Chapter 5: Unshackling the Slaves of Obsession and Compulsion: A Brain Success Story, Judith L. Rapoport, M.D., and Gale Inoff-Germain

    Chapter 6: Are We in the Dark About Sleepwalking's Dangers?, Shelly R. Gunn, M.D., and W. Stewart Gunn

    Chapter 7: Knowing Sin: Making Sure Good Science Doesn't Go Bad, Henry T. Greely, J.D.

    Chapter 8: The Intuitive Magician: Why Belief in the Supernatural Persists, Bruce Hood, Ph.D.

    Chapter 9: Bringing the Brain of the Child with Autism Back on Track, Diane Chugani, M.D., and Kayt Sukel

    Chapter 10: Toward a New Treatment for Traumatic Memories, Margaret Altemus, M.D., and Jacek Debiec, M.D., Ph.D.

    Chapter 11: Elephants That Paint, Birds That Make Music: Do Animals Have an Aesthetic Sense?, Lesley J. Rogers, D.Phil., D.Sc., and Gisela Kaplan, Ph.D.

    Chapter 12: Transforming Drug Development Through Brain Imaging, Paul M. Matthews, M.D., D.Phil., FRCP

    Chapter 13: Hardwired for Happiness, Silvia Helena Cardoso, Ph.D.

    Chapter 14: A Cerebrum Classic: Hope for "Comatose" Patients, Nicholas D. Schiff, M.D., and Joseph J. Fins, M.D.

    Index

    Endorsements

    "Cerebrum is excellent, exciting, and important food for the brain."

    -Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., author of Exuberance: The Passion for Life

    "These gracefully written essays fill the critical space between the technical reports of neuroscientists and psychologists and today's headlines and enrich our understanding of the dramatic discoveries of the past few decades."

    -Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., author of An Argument for Mind

    "I eagerly await each new article in Cerebrum, a journal brimming with discoveries, fascinations, and food for thought."

    -Diane Ackerman, author of A Natural History of the Senses
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    Excerpts

    From Chapter 3

    “Why Not a National Institute on Pain Research?” by Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., and Maia Szalavitz

    In the past 30 years, we have seen at least some barriers to pain relief—for example, for dying patients—fall dramatically. We are far more aware of the impact of pain on patients and families and of the enormous need for providing approaches that focus on the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and families. Clearly, research on opioid analgesics is not going to be the only solution for all patients with pain. Yet, the role of the opioids today is so central that we need more research to better understand who can benefit from these agents, what risks they impose, and what other drug combinations are effective. Until we have achieved that, though, does it seem reasonable that patients are forced to endure needless suffering because legal or regulatory barriers make existing medications unavailable to them? 

    From Chapter 6

    “Are We in the Dark About Sleepwalking’s Dangers?” by Shelly R. Gunn, M.D., Ph.D., and W. Stewart Gunn

    For the most part, sleepwalkers have earned their amiable reputation as, in the words of Shakespeare, just “merry wanderers of the night.” Whether conducting imaginary orchestras, climbing trees, or taking walks outside clad only in pajamas, they give us a glimpse of the incredible intricacy and complexity of a human brain that is capable of being awake and asleep at the same time. That most people successfully make the journey through the many stages of sleep several times each night is a testimony to the ability of billions of neurons to synchronize themselves into the fundamental biological process required by all organisms—the need to rest. In somnambulism this process has somehow been subverted, but, with a growing public awareness about the hidden dangers of sleepwalking and increasing coverage of sleep medicine in neuroscience textbooks and medical school curricula, we hope that the world is becoming a safer place for all night-time wanderers.

     
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