Research Unleashed With the Decade of the Brain
Research unleashed with the decade of the brain – the 2000s – has been nothing short of astounding.
Likely you are well aware that I preface the key points of just about every one of my talks, articles and posts with a comment about the “new brain research of the past 10-15 years has ______.” So when I read this article by Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), published on the Dana Foundation website, in which she summarizes some of the biggest advances in brain research in the past decade — the decade after the “Decade of the Brain,” I knew had to share it with you.
The following is just the beginning of what Dr. Volkow has to say… I urge you to read the rest of her article, “A Decade After the Decade of the Brain, Challenges and Opportunities in Drug Addiction Research:”
Neuroscience is at a historic turning point. Today, a full decade after the “Decade of the Brain,” a continuous stream of advances is shattering long-held notions about how the human brain works and what happens when it doesn’t. These advances are also reshaping the landscapes of other fields, from psychology to economics, education and the law.
Until the Decade of the Brain, scientists believed that, once development was over, the adult brain underwent very few changes. This perception contributed to polarizing perspectives on whether genetics or environment determines a person’s temperament and personality, aptitudes, and vulnerability to mental disorders. But during the past two decades, neuroscientists have steadily built the case that the human brain, even when fully mature, is far more plastic—changing and malleable—than we originally thought.1 It turns out that the brain (at all ages) is highly responsive to environmental stimuli and that connections between neurons are dynamic and can rapidly change within minutes of stimulation.
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Lisa Frederiksen
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