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The rapidly growing interest and activity in brain research parallels an energetic, worldwide investigation of genetics that preceded James Watson and Francis Crick's 1953 discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule. Indeed, many outstanding biochemists and microbiologists who helped lay the groundwork for that monumental breakthrough have recognized that the brain now represents science's greatest challenge. Some have announced their conversion to neuroscience, the discipline that deals with the brain and nervous system. The work of the neuroscientists has already produced an exponential increase in man's understanding of the brain—and a good bit of immediately applicable knowledge as well. It has led to a host of new medical and surgical treatments for such disorders as schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy. It has also resulted in improved and promising new techniques for relieving pain and controlling some forms of violence.
Even these accomplishments could seem insignificant once the modern Magellans attain their goal of understanding the brain's functions in thought, memory and in consciousness—the sense of identity that distinguishes man from all other known forms of life. Finding the key to these mysteries of the brain, a discovery that would suddenly explain these functions, could lead to better ways of treating the psychoses and neuroses that plague millions. It could result in identification and correction of the causes of many neurological disorders and, by revealing how the brain works, revolutionize thought, education and communication. It might even help man turn away from what some see as a headlong pursuit of self-destruction. "If man could discover why he is unique, he might not destroy himself," says M.I.T. Professor Francis Schmitt, one of the leading brain researchers (see box page 58). "He might respect himself more than he now does."
None of those engaged in neuroscientific research underestimate the difficulty of reaching that understanding, for the brain is an organ of enormous complexity. While a sophisticated electronic computer can store and recall some 100 billion "bits" of information, for example, the capacity of the brain seems infinite. The computer can make out a payroll, compute the trajectory of a spacecraft or figure the odds against drawing a straight flush far faster than any human. But the computer is, after all, a machine, capable of doing only what its human builders tell it to do.
The brain, on the other hand, performs a bewildering variety of far more subtle functions. It regulates man's heart and respiratory rates, controls his body temperature and tells him when to take his hands off hot stoves—all without his really being aware of that control. The brain keeps man in touch with the world around him by constantly sorting out the auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory and tactile information his senses receive, processing it and enabling him to act upon it. It switches emotions on and off and regulates sexual drives.