Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn't Solved Brain Disorders-and How We Can Change That

by Nicole C. Rust

Overview

A neuroscientist’s bold proposal for tackling one of the greatest challenges of our time—brain and mental illnesses

Brain research has been accelerating rapidly in recent decades, but the translation of our many discoveries into treatments and cures for brain disorders has not happened as many expected. We do not have cures for the vast majority of brain illnesses, from Alzheimer’s to depression, and many medications we do have to treat the brain are derived from drugs produced in the 1950s—before we knew much about the brain at all. Tackling brain disorders is clearly one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. What will it take to overcome it? Nicole Rust takes readers along on her personal journey to answer this question.

Drawing on her decades of experience on the front lines of neuroscience research, Rust reflects on how far we have come in our quest to unlock the secrets of the brain and what remains to be discovered. She shows us that treating a brain disorder is more like redirecting a hurricane than fixing a domino chain of cause and effect, arguing that only once we embrace the idea of the brain as a complex system do we have any hope of finding cures. Rust profiles the pioneering ideas about the brain that are driving research at the cutting edge to illuminate exactly how much we know about disorders such as Parkinson’s, epilepsy, addiction, schizophrenia, and anxiety—and what it will take to eradicate these scourges.

Elusive Cures sheds light on one of the most daunting challenges ever confronted by science while offering hope for revolutionary new treatments and cures for the brain.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691243054
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	06/10/2025
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Nicole C. Rust is professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Recipient of the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, she is a contributing editor at The Transmitter, a leading brain research news magazine.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In Elusive Cures, neuroscientist Nicole Rust takes us along on her quest to understand one of the most ambitious scientific projects of our time. A gifted writer, Rust eases us into the complexity of psychiatric and neurological disorders with brilliant examples that help any reader understand what we know about how the brain works in health and disease. She is the perfect guide to the wonder and promise of modern neuroscience.”—Thomas Insel, MD, author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health

“A number of scientists, me included, have been ranting about the sad state of affairs in the treatment of mental disorders for some time. In Elusive Cures, Nicole Rust offers a fresh and very useful perspective on the problem. If you are suffering, this is an excellent way for you to see that you are not alone, and that some scientists are working hard to make things better.”—Joseph LeDoux, author of The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human

“Elusive Cures is a remarkably compelling and enlightening deep dive into the state of brain research as relevant to disease. Combining the authority of a great teacher and the personal touch of a helpful guide, Rust offers a thought-provoking perspective on scientific thinking, progress, and discovery.”—Daphna Shohamy, director and CEO of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University

Editorial Reviews

"Written at an accessible level, this thorough summation explains neuroscience research and possible pathways forward to students, patients, caregivers, and educators."

Library Journal

"An ambitious study of the search for cures to Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s, and ALS. . . . pepper[ed] with fascinating anecdotes . . . . The result is a cogent and impassioned account."

Publishers Weekly

"A compelling case that understanding the brain as a complex and constantly changing system instead of a ‘thing’ improves the chances of understanding the relationship between ‘mental disorders’ and ‘brain disorders,’ the role of neural networks, and finding cures. Accessible to lay readers, informed by the latest research, and filled with concrete examples, Elusive Cures is immensely useful to a subject that is relevant to all of us."—-Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today

"An insider’s account of how contemporary neuroscience is tackling the failures of the bench-to-bed pipeline and how neuroscience is moving away from the molecular-genetic framework to a new grand plan that understands the brain as a complex, dynamic, computational system. Rust is a brilliant, accomplished, thoughtful, and philosophically and clinically informed neuroscientist. . . . the end result is an accessible book that is deeply intelligent and informative."—-Awais Aftab, Psychiatry at the Margins

From the Publisher