The human illnesses

Some promising genetic correlates of neuropsychiatric disorders have emerged over the last two decades but none explain more than a tiny fraction of cases. This volume, written by a neuropsychiatrist and an evolutionary biologist, offers a new paradigm for understanding these disorders. It is proposed that neuronal pathways which underlie neuropsychiatric conditions mirror unique human capabilities. Human capabilities such as theory of mind, language, and complex social behaviors are explored through their histological, neuroanatomical, and functional brain imaging correlates.

The capacity for representation, the authors suggest, is central to the understanding of the human brain. For instance, brain structures such as the frontal pole, temporal pole, and fronto-insular cortex are highly developed in humans and may be associated with the representation of the feelings and actions of self and others across time. Conditions such as autism may arise from a failure of these brain regions while other conditions like schizophrenia may be associated with failure of related networks associated with directed effort, and bipolar disorders may arise from a failure of related networks associated with emotional encoding.

From this perspective, neuropsychiatric disorders are selective failures of brain networks involved in the integration of cognition, affect, and perception. A better understanding of these brain networks will guide the search for environmental factors, genetic correlates, and more effective treatments for these disorders. This volume will be of great interest to psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, biologists, and imaging scientists-anyone who has ever wondered what makes the human brain human. --Book Jacket.