Elusive Cures - by Nicole C Rust (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Neuroscience has made massive progress in the last thirty years-we've seen multiple forms of technology revolutionize the field, and we've invested tremendous resources to pursue brain research globally. Though we've learned much about the brain through these efforts, we have struggled to translate what we are learning to treatments for mental illness. Tragically, we cannot cure-or in some cases reliably treat-most brain disorders, including Alzheimer's, Huntington's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, and so many more. Why have we struggled so much to translate the exploding number of discoveries that are happening at the research bench to the bedside? How can we better understand and treat brain and mental illness? In this book, Nicole Rust tackles these difficult questions, making a bold argument for how the field of neuroscience needs to change in order to make meaningful progress on understanding and treating brain dysfunction. In short, her argument is that neuroscientists must adapt to thinking about the brain as a complex system. To date, we have collectively thought about the brain more as a domino chain of cause-and-effect - for instance, if we assume that a chemical imbalance causes depression, we assume that once we fix that imbalance, we will fix depression. But as Rust shows, the brain is much more complex than a domino chain, operating via feedback loops that are more difficult to understand and predict. In Part I, Rust examines the people and the science behind the brain drugs that are prescribed today, setting up her argument that the field must change in order to progress; she shows that most of our current treatments - for depression, psychosis, and other disorders -- were developed serendipitously. In fact, most of the drugs that we use today were created in the 50s, before we understood anything at all about how the brain works. In Parts 2 and 3, Rust presents her argument for how the field can advance: by treating the brain as a complex system. In highly accessible language and drawing on the history of complex systems in other scientific fields, as well as cutting edge work in translational neuroscience today, she shows how some researchers are already pushing towards the idea of the brain as a complex system - and argues that only once we fully embrace this idea do we have any hope of curing the brain in dysfunction. The book is a fascinating window into the immense challenge of understanding the brain - the most complex thing humankind has ever encountered - and how we can change course to make more and better progress towards mental health"--

Book Synopsis

A neuroscientist's bold proposal for tackling one of the greatest challenges of our time--brain and mental illnesses

Brain research has been accelerating rapidly in recent decades, but the translation of our many discoveries into treatments and cures for brain disorders has not happened as many expected. We do not have cures for the vast majority of brain illnesses, from Alzheimer's to depression, and many medications we do have to treat the brain are derived from drugs produced in the 1950s--before we knew much about the brain at all. Tackling brain disorders is clearly one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. What will it take to overcome it? Nicole Rust takes readers along on her personal journey to answer this question.

Drawing on her decades of experience on the front lines of neuroscience research, Rust reflects on how far we have come in our quest to unlock the secrets of the brain and what remains to be discovered. She shows us that treating a brain disorder is more like redirecting a hurricane than fixing a domino chain of cause and effect, arguing that only once we embrace the idea of the brain as a complex system do we have any hope of finding cures. Rust profiles the pioneering ideas about the brain that are driving research at the cutting edge to illuminate exactly how much we know about disorders such as Parkinson's, epilepsy, addiction, schizophrenia, and anxiety--and what it will take to eradicate these scourges.

Elusive Cures sheds light on one of the most daunting challenges ever confronted by science while offering hope for revolutionary new treatments and cures for the brain.

Review Quotes

"What I most enjoyed and admired about the book was Rust's willingness to get dirty in the intellectual trenches. It's easy for a reader to say, as I have, that some of the proposed solutions don't quite bite, but the author is dealing with overwhelmingly difficult questions that most of us spend a lot of time sidestepping. There is no sidestepping here."---Vincent Walsh, Current Biology

"Elusive Cures should be required reading for all neuroscience students. . . . Essential."-- "Choice"

"[A] fascinating book."---Andrew Robinson, Nature

"An insider's account of how contemporary neuroscience is tackling the failures of the bench-to-bed pipeline and how neuroscience is moving away from the molecular-genetic framework to a new grand plan that understands the brain as a complex, dynamic, computational system. Rust is a brilliant, accomplished, thoughtful, and philosophically and clinically informed neuroscientist. . . . the end result is an accessible book that is deeply intelligent and informative."---Awais Aftab, Psychiatry at the Margins

"An ambitious study of the search for cures to Huntington's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer's, and ALS. . . . pepper[ed] with fascinating anecdotes . . . . The result is a cogent and impassioned account."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Written at an accessible level, this thorough summation explains neuroscience research and possible pathways forward to students, patients, caregivers, and educators."-- "Library Journal"

"A compelling case that understanding the brain as a complex and constantly changing system instead of a 'thing' improves the chances of understanding the relationship between 'mental disorders' and 'brain disorders, ' the role of neural networks, and finding cures. Accessible to lay readers, informed by the latest research, and filled with concrete examples, Elusive Cures is immensely useful to a subject that is relevant to all of us."---Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today

About the Author

Nicole C. Rust is professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Recipient of the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, she is a contributing editor at The Transmitter, a leading brain research news magazine.