Brave new brain [[electronic resource] ] : conquering mental illness in the era of the genome / / Nancy C. Andreasen

• Autore: Andreasen Nancy C
• Pubblicazione: Oxford ; ; New York, : Oxford University Press, 2001
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (389 p.)
• Disciplina: 616.89/042
• Soggetto topico: Mental illness; Mental illness - Genetic aspects; Human genome
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Contents -- Preface -- Part I: BROKEN BRAINS AND TROUBLED MINDS -- CHAPTER 1 Brave New Brain: Confronting the Burden of Mental Illness -- CHAPTER 2 A Waking Nightmare: Mental Illness and Ordinary People -- CHAPTER 3 Broken Brains, Troubled Minds: Being Blinded by False Dichotomies -- Part II: MIND MEETS MOLECULE -- CHAPTER 4 The Brain: The Mind's Dynamic Orchestra -- CHAPTER 5 Mapping the Genome: The Blueprint of Life ... and Death -- CHAPTER 6 Mapping the Mind: Using Neuroimaging to Observe How the Brain Thinks -- Part III: THE BURDEN OF MENTAL ILLNESS -- CHAPTER 7 Understanding What Mental Illnesses Are: The Past Is Prologue to Progress -- CHAPTER 8 Schizophrenia: A Mind Divided -- CHAPTER 9 Mood Disorders: Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster -- CHAPTER 10 Dementias: A Death in Life -- CHAPTER 11 Anxiety Disorders: The Stress Regulator Goes Wild -- Part IV: BRAVE NEW BRAIN -- CHAPTER 12 O Brave New World: Conquering Mental Illness in the Era of the Genome -- References and Suggested Readings -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: 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.
• Titolo autorizzato: Brave new brain
• ISBN: 0-19-770584-7; 1-280-53175-4; 9786610531752; 0-19-530286-9; 0-19-803315-X; 1-60256-849-9
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910811930603321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II