Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., is Andrew H. Woods Chair of Psychiatry at The University of Iowa College of
Medicine and the Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Psychiatry. She has written hundreds of articles and
ten other books, including The Broken Brain, the first book to describe the importance of neurobiology to understanding
mental illness. She lives in Iowa City and Santa Fe.
Review
"[A] gripping account.... A truly outstanding book. Brave New Brain informs, provokes thought, conveys
the excitement of science, indicates why science matters, and considers both the achievements with respect to clinical
application and the difficulties involved. Quite an achievement!"
--Science
"Excellent introductions to neuroscience, brain imaging, and genetics. Outstanding overviews of what is known
about the neuroscience and genetics of the major psychiatric disorders of schizophrenia, mood disorders, dementia,
and anxiety disorders. The descriptions of the history and neuroscience of medication are especially good."
--Nature
"Written with clarity and sensitivity, this study offers a refreshing, optimistic vision of the future."
--Library Journal
"[Brave New Brain] is clear, extremely informative and conveys the excitement of biological psychiatry that
has been energized by the genome and imaging."
--Judith L. Rapoport, M.D., National Institute of Mental Health
Oxford University Press Publishing Web Site, January, 2004
Summary
Here, leading neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen offers 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.
Andreasen gives us an engaging and readable description of how it all works---from billions of neurons, to the
tiny thalamus, to the moral monitor in our prefrontal cortex. She shows the progress made in mapping the human
genome, whose 30,000 to 40,000 genes are almost all active in the brain. 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. Four major disorders are covered--schizophrenia,
manic depression, anxiety disorders, and dementia--revealing what causes them and how they affect the mind and
brain. 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.
By revealing how combining genome mapping with brain mapping can unlock the mysteries of mental illness, Andreasen
offers a remarkably fresh perspective on these devastating diseases.
