From basic brain research to treating human brain disorders

The human brain is the most complex entity we know. Disorders of the human brain are embedded in this complexity. Potential advances in treating these disorders result from the growing understanding of this complex organization. The brains of monkeys have some important similarities to the human brain in structure and organization, and monkeys have therefore been extensively studied to help us to understand human brain disorders. With this in mind, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) convened a colloquium, “Using Monkey Models to Understand and Develop Treatments for Human Brain Disorders,” in Irvine, California on January 7th and 8th, 2019. The colloquium articles in this issue of PNAS offer a glimpse into the relationship of scientific discovery to the treatment of brain disorders. We begin by considering how this kind of scientific discovery works. The better we know how a machine works, the more likely we are able to fix it when it breaks. When our automobile needs repair, we take it to someone we think understands how it works and therefore is likely to be able to fix it. We do the same thing when we have a brain disorder; we go to the doctor we think understands the brain system underlying the specific disorder and hope that she can provide a treatment. It is the understanding of the brain system that comes first; without that understanding the treatment is likely to be a hit or miss guess or an expensive failure. The understanding is not all or none, it is continually developing, often over many years. Anyone who has close experience with a brain disease knows that current medicine is mostly groping in the dark with these disorders. It is the job of basic science to turn on some lights. Consider an example of the contribution to clinical … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: bob{at}lsr.nei.nih.gov. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

[1]  Hyoung F. Kim,et al.  Multiple neuronal circuits for variable object–action choices based on short- and long-term memories , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[2]  F. Cacucci,et al.  Contributions of nonhuman primate research to understanding the consequences of human brain injury during development , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3]  C. Salzman,et al.  The contribution of nonhuman primate research to the understanding of emotion and cognition and its clinical relevance , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[4]  Chad J. Donahue,et al.  Cerebral cortical folding, parcellation, and connectivity in humans, nonhuman primates, and mice , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[5]  H. Clarke,et al.  Why we need nonhuman primates to study the role of ventromedial prefrontal cortex in the regulation of threat- and reward-elicited responses , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[6]  M. Goldberg.  The neurology clinic needs monkey research , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  J. Bachevalier.  Nonhuman primate models of hippocampal development and dysfunction , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[8]  A. Disney,et al.  Translational implications of the anatomical nonequivalence of functionally equivalent cholinergic circuit motifs , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[9]  L. Kiorpes.  Understanding the development of amblyopia using macaque monkey models , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[10]  Yasmine El-Shamayleh,et al.  Primate optogenetics: Progress and prognosis , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[11]  Andrew B Schwartz,et al.  Distributed processing of movement signaling , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[12]  J. Morrison,et al.  Oligomeric Aβ in the monkey brain impacts synaptic integrity and induces accelerated cortical aging , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[13]  J. Maunsell,et al.  Attention can be subdivided into neurobiological components corresponding to distinct behavioral effects , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[14]  J. Vitek,et al.  Understanding Parkinson’s disease and deep brain stimulation: Role of monkey models , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[15]  Erin L. Rich,et al.  From bed to bench side: Reverse translation to optimize neuromodulation for mood disorders , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[16]  Rafi U. Haque,et al.  Alzheimer’s disease: A clinical perspective and future nonhuman primate research opportunities , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[17]  A. Nairn,et al.  Alzheimer’s-like pathology in aging rhesus macaques: Unique opportunity to study the etiology and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[18]  C. Barnes,et al.  Experiments in macaque monkeys provide critical insights into age-associated changes in cognitive and sensory function , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[19]  B. Roska,et al.  The primate model for understanding and restoring vision , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[20]  P. Strick,et al.  The mind–body problem: Circuits that link the cerebral cortex to the adrenal medulla , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[21]  Spencer Kellis,et al.  From thought to action: The brain–machine interface in posterior parietal cortex , 2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.