IN JULY 1989, the president signed a bill introduced by the late Congressman Silvio O. Conte (R-Mass.), designating the 10 years beginning Jan. 1, 1990, as the Decade of the Brain. The time was right. Although the paramount importance of the executive organ of the human body had been appreciated for centuries, the brain remained for too long a "black box" to investigators. Since this project began, dramatic technological advances have brought an avalanche of discoveries in the field, with even greater progress clearly on the horizon.

Among the areas of rapidly advancing knowledge are:

Genetics. The Human Genome Initiative is now well under way, and new sequencing techniques herald the completion of this achievement even sooner than imagined. Establishment of the Genome Center at Columbia has positioned our scientists to add rapidly to a list of genetic discoveries that already includes Huntington's disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and Wilson's disease.

Brain imaging. The combined capacities of positron emission tomography, single-photon-emission computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging allow us not only to elucidate normal and abnormal brain structure and functioning but to visualize neuroreceptor activity directly. This has exponentially increased our knowledge and opened new doors, such as the development of drugs that have known, targeted locations and mechanisms of action.

Molecular neurobiology. Our understanding of the processes of learning and memory has made major strides, taking advantage of new research methods such as transgenic mouse technology. We also can now examine genetic activation of the process of protein synthesis involved in long-term memory, as well as studies of aging and the process of cell death, leading to new efforts to develop neuroprotective agents.

Researchers at Columbia, at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the Neurological Institute are among those leading the way in translating basic science into practical benefits. These new understandings of mechanisms such as genetic encoding, signal transduction, and neurotransmission, combined with the new imaging capacities, presage breathtaking possibilities in the development of new methods of treatment and prevention. Considering that nervous system disorders are widespread enough to approach epidemic proportions (estimated to affect tens of millions of Americans, at a direct-plus-indirect cost of almost $600 billion annually), the achievements during the Decade of the Brain are providing good news indeed. (End Report)

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