“an enchanted loom”- 50 years of neuroscience

The Lancet have published a very interesting look back at the first 50 years of neuroscience and what has it has accomplished. It explores some of the hopes, expectations, and achievements, as well as the limits of existing metaphors (brain as a computer) in bringing understanding of the brain to the next level.

It rightly points out how little is truly understood of depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia and the importance of finding new metaphorical approaches to make progress. But that there's no doubt that exciting times lie ahead for discoveries in the field of neuroscience.

Speaking of which, an Italian neuroscientist contends that we'll have the first head transplant within the next year or two. OK, so there's A LOT that can go wrong, and they're currently unable to connect test animals’ spinal cords to their donor bodies, leaving them paralyzed, but this is an area that they're making progress in (those poor dogs - but what in the name of science). 

There could be huge implications for paraplegics and patients with muscular dystrophy, but I also wonder about the area just mentioned above - mental health. Given the complex nature of mind-body integration, maybe there are unexplored connections between mind and body, rather than brain. I blogged on the connection between the brain and gut microbiome before. Is it possible that a different body could cure a "brain disorder"?! It's an interesting if bizarre thought. Or, at least, maybe we need to stop thinking of mental health issues solely in terms of the brain. And we're back to what the Lancet concludes...