Clinical neuroscience
Encyclopedia
Clinical neuroscience is a branch of neuroscience
that focuses on the fundamental mechanisms that underlie diseases and disorders of the brain and central nervous system. It seeks to develop new ways of diagnosing such disorders and ultimately on developing novel treatments.
Clinical neuroscientists — including psychiatrist
s, neurologist
s and other medical specialists — use basic research findings to develop diagnostic methods and ways to prevent and treat neurological disorders that affect millions of people. Such disorders include addiction
, Alzheimer's disease
, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
, anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
, bipolar disorder
, brain tumors, depression, Down Syndrome
, dyslexia
, epilepsy
, Huntington's Disease
, multiple sclerosis
, neurological AIDS
, neurological trauma
, pain
, obsessive-compulsive disorder
, Parkinson's disease
, schizophrenia
, sleep disorders, stroke
, Tourette Syndrome
, among many others.
While neurology
, neurosurgery
and psychiatry
are the main medical specialties constituting clinical neuroscience, other medical specialties such as neuroradiology
, neuropathology
, ophthalmology
, otorhinolaryngology, anesthesiology, and rehabilitation medicine are also considered by some as clinical neuroscience disciplines.
The One Mind for Research Forum held in Boston
, Massachusetts
on May 23-25, 2011 - attended by Vice President of the United States
Joe Biden
, convened by former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy
and chaired by Harvard Provost
Steven Hyman
- produced the blueprint document A Ten-Year Plan for Neuroscience: From Molecules to Brain Health.
In this document contributed by leading neuroscience practitioners in the United States, 17 key areas of opportunities are listed under the section Clinical Neuroscience. These include:
1. Rethinking curricula to break down intellectual silos
2. Training translational neuroscientists and clinical investigators
3. Investigating biomarkers
4. Improving psychiatric diagnosis
5. Developing a “Framingham Study of Brain Disorders” (i.e., longitudinal cohort for central nervous system disease)
6. Identifying developmental risk factors and producing effective
interventions
7. Discovering new treatments for pain, including neuropathic pain
8. Treating disorders of neural signaling and pathological synchrony
9. Treating disorders of immunity
or inflammation
10. Treating metabolic and mitochondrial disorders
11. Developing new treatments for depression
12. Treating addictive disorders
13. Improving treatment of schizophrenia
14. Preventing and treating cerebrovascular disease
15. Achieving personalized medicine
16. Understanding shared mechanisms of neurodegeneration
17. Advancing anesthesia
.
In particular, under point #1, it is advocated that better integrated and scientifically driven curricula for practitioners of clinical neuroscience be developed, and that such curricula be shared among neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists.
Given the various ethical, legal and societal implications for healthcare practitioners arising from advances in neuroscience, the University of Pennsylvania
has inaugurated the Penn Conference on Clinical Neuroscience and Society in July 2011.
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
that focuses on the fundamental mechanisms that underlie diseases and disorders of the brain and central nervous system. It seeks to develop new ways of diagnosing such disorders and ultimately on developing novel treatments.
Clinical neuroscientists — including psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
s, neurologist
Neurologist
A neurologist is a physician who specializes in neurology, and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders.Neurology is the medical specialty related to the human nervous system. The nervous system encompasses the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. A specialist...
s and other medical specialists — use basic research findings to develop diagnostic methods and ways to prevent and treat neurological disorders that affect millions of people. Such disorders include addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
, Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a form of motor neuron disease caused by the degeneration of upper and lower neurons, located in the ventral horn of the spinal cord and the cortical neurons that provide their efferent input...
, anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
, bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, brain tumors, depression, Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
, dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
, epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
, Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...
, multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, neurological AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, neurological trauma
Trauma (medicine)
Trauma refers to "a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident." It can also be described as "a physical wound or injury, such as a fracture or blow." Major trauma can result in secondary complications such as circulatory shock, respiratory failure and death...
, pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...
, obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
, Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, sleep disorders, stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, Tourette Syndrome
Tourette syndrome
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical tics and at least one vocal tic; these tics characteristically wax and wane...
, among many others.
While neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
and psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
are the main medical specialties constituting clinical neuroscience, other medical specialties such as neuroradiology
Neuroradiology
Neuroradiology is a subspecialty of radiology focusing on the diagnosis and characterization of abnormalities of the central and peripheral nervous system, spine, and head and neck. Primary imaging modalities include computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging...
, neuropathology
Neuropathology
Neuropathology is the study of disease of nervous system tissue, usually in the form of either small surgical biopsies or whole autopsy brains. Neuropathology is a subspecialty of anatomic pathology, neurology, and neurosurgery...
, ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
, otorhinolaryngology, anesthesiology, and rehabilitation medicine are also considered by some as clinical neuroscience disciplines.
The One Mind for Research Forum held in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
on May 23-25, 2011 - attended by Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Joe Biden
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden, Jr. is the 47th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President Barack Obama...
, convened by former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick Joseph Kennedy II is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes all of Bristol County and Newport County, and parts of Providence County. Kennedy did not seek re-election in 2010.A member of the Kennedy...
and chaired by Harvard Provost
Provost (education)
A provost is the senior academic administrator at many institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and Australia, the equivalent of a pro-vice-chancellor at some institutions in the United Kingdom and Ireland....
Steven Hyman
Steven Hyman
Professor Steven E. Hyman, MD, is Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard University and a Visiting Scholar at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. He was Provost of Harvard University from 2001 to 2011. As Provost, he was instrumental in the development of cross school and regional...
- produced the blueprint document A Ten-Year Plan for Neuroscience: From Molecules to Brain Health.
In this document contributed by leading neuroscience practitioners in the United States, 17 key areas of opportunities are listed under the section Clinical Neuroscience. These include:
1. Rethinking curricula to break down intellectual silos
2. Training translational neuroscientists and clinical investigators
3. Investigating biomarkers
4. Improving psychiatric diagnosis
5. Developing a “Framingham Study of Brain Disorders” (i.e., longitudinal cohort for central nervous system disease)
6. Identifying developmental risk factors and producing effective
interventions
7. Discovering new treatments for pain, including neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain results from lesions or diseases affecting the somatosensory system. It may be associated with abnormal sensations called dysesthesia, which occur spontaneously and allodynia that occurs in response to external stimuli. Neuropathic pain may have continuous and/or episodic ...
8. Treating disorders of neural signaling and pathological synchrony
9. Treating disorders of immunity
Immunity (medical)
Immunity is a biological term that describes a state of having sufficient biological defenses to avoid infection, disease, or other unwanted biological invasion. Immunity involves both specific and non-specific components. The non-specific components act either as barriers or as eliminators of wide...
or inflammation
Inflammation
Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...
10. Treating metabolic and mitochondrial disorders
11. Developing new treatments for depression
12. Treating addictive disorders
13. Improving treatment of schizophrenia
14. Preventing and treating cerebrovascular disease
15. Achieving personalized medicine
Personalized medicine
Personalized medicine is a medical model emphasizing in general the customization of healthcare, with all decisions and practices being tailored to individual patients in whatever ways possible...
16. Understanding shared mechanisms of neurodegeneration
Neurodegeneration
Neurodegeneration is the umbrella term for the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons. Many neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s occur as a result of neurodegenerative processes. As research progresses, many...
17. Advancing anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
.
In particular, under point #1, it is advocated that better integrated and scientifically driven curricula for practitioners of clinical neuroscience be developed, and that such curricula be shared among neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists.
Given the various ethical, legal and societal implications for healthcare practitioners arising from advances in neuroscience, the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
has inaugurated the Penn Conference on Clinical Neuroscience and Society in July 2011.
See also
- Behavioral neurologyBehavioral neurologyBehavioral neurology is a subspecialty of neurology that studies the neurological basis of behavior, memory, and cognition, the impact of neurological damage and disease upon these functions, and the treatment thereof. Two fields associated with behavioral neurology are neuropsychiatry and...
- NeuropsychiatryNeuropsychiatryNeuropsychiatry is the branch of medicine dealing with mental disorders attributable to diseases of the nervous system. It preceded the current disciplines of psychiatry and neurology, in as much as psychiatrists and neurologists had a common training....
- NeuropsychologyNeuropsychologyNeuropsychology studies the structure and function of the brain related to specific psychological processes and behaviors. The term neuropsychology has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells in...
- Society for NeuroscienceSociety for NeuroscienceThe Society for Neuroscience is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system.-History:...