The New Brain: Neuroscience Aims to Discover How and Why Our Brains Function as They Do and What New Treatments Could Come to the Aid of Malfunctioning Minds

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We have learned so much about the human brain during the past two decades that it's fair to speak of a revolutionary change in our understanding. The era of the Old Brain is giving way to that of the New Brain.

The Old Brain was remote and mysterious, deeply hidden within the skull and inaccessible except to specialists daring enough to pierce its three protective layers. Thanks to that inaccessibility and the risks involved in plumbing its depths, brain experts knew little about the functioning of the normal brain; they certainly searched in vain for answers to such fascinating questions as, "How is the brain related to our everyday thoughts, emotions, and behavior?"

The New Brain, in contrast, does not require dangerous intrusions but can now be depicted using sophisticated computer-driven imaging techniques such as CAT and PET …