The Decade of the Brain was a designation for 1990–1999 by U.S. president George H. W. Bush as part of a larger effort involving the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

and the

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

"to enhance public awareness of the benefits to be derived from

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

research". The interagency initiative was conducted through a variety of activities including publications and programs aimed at introducing members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

, their staffs, and the general public to cutting-edge

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

on the

human brain The human brain is the central organ of the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the ...

and encouraging public dialog on the

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

, philosophical, and humanistic implications of these discoveries.

Inception

During the 1980s, a renewed interest in the localization of neural phenomena to distinct anatomical regions of the brain led to a rapid uptick in more direct study of the brain and its psychological implications. In 1980, the Society for Neuroscience founded a committee dedicated to lobbying directly with the United States Congress for increased neuroscience funding, as well as encouraging members of the society to contact their own representatives. This group, alongside the National Committee for Research in Neurological and Communicative Disorders, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

’s Interagency Working Group in Neuroscience, the

Association of American Medical Colleges The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and scientific societies, while providing serv ...

and the Inter-Society Council for Biology and Medicine, met with legislators in Washington D.C. throughout the 1980s in order to educate them about the importance of neuroscience research and advocate for fiscal appropriations. In 1987, the National Committee for Research in Neurological and Communicative Disorders collaborated with an National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke advisory council to propose a large-scale attempt to build on recent advances in order to further research and clinical development in neuroscience. This proposal to designate the decade, beginning January 1990, as the "Decade of the Brain", was sponsored by Representative

Silvio O. Conte Silvio Ottavio Conte (November 9, 1921 – February 8, 1991) was an American lawyer and politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for 16 terms, representing the 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts ...

, and passed by the United States Congress in a joint resolution on March 8, 1989. A formal proclamation was thereafter issued by then President of the United States George H. W. Bush on July 18, 1990.

Publicity and popularization efforts

Responding to the Presidential mandate, professional organizations began to support the effort via further promulgation of Decade of the Brain materials, and Decade of the Brain lectures became commonplace at annual meetings of prominent scientific communities. Nevertheless, in the early years of the decade, the neuroscience community was concerned that their efforts would not lead to an increase in funding of neuroscience research. David J. Mahoney, at the time the Chairman of the Charles A. Dana Foundation for brain research, arranged a gathering of influential neuroscientists in

Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold Spri ...

in 1992 to discuss ways to improve the Decade of the Brain movement. The meeting resulted in the signing by 60 scientists of a formal Declaration of ten research goals to be accomplished by the end of the decade, as well as personal commitments made by those scientists to speak to the public about their research using appropriate lay language. The Dana Foundation also sponsored the publication of newspapers, newsletters, journals, and other outlets to convey neuroscience research, alongside $34 million in research grants for brain research, and the founding of

Brain Awareness Week 'Brain Awareness Week'' is the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research. It unites the efforts of partner organizations from around the world in a week-long celebration of the brain every year in mi ...

, a global campaign to promote public interest in neuroscience.

Global adoption

The United States' neuroscience community's publication of Decade of the Brain led international communities to adopt the movement as well. The Government of Japan invested $125 million into neuroscience research in 1997, leading to the development of the Brain Science Institute. The Government of India founded the National Brain Research Centre during the same year. In 1998, the Chinese Institute of Neuroscience was founded.

Impact

During the time period of the Decade of the Brain, the field of neuroscience made rapid gains and in several important ways rose to the forefront of both scientific and public interest. American neurologist Lewis P. Rowland stated:

As a public relations gambit, the Decade was a success. As a way of engaging scientists, legislators, and leaders of voluntary agencies, it was a success. As an education program it successfully mirrored the wonderful scientific and technological advances. As part of the preparation for the bipartisan doubling of the neuroscience budget, the Decade was a clear success.We cannot be certain the Decade had anything to do with these advances, which might well have come without the public hue, but the advances and the education marched together.

Several scientific accomplishments occurred during the Decade of the Brain Among them are: * the development of

fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area o ...

BOLD neural imaging and the emergence of the field of

computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematical models, computer simulations, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to u ...

* the discovery of

neural plasticity Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it ...

and critical periods of

neural development The development of the nervous system, or neural development (neurodevelopment), refers to the processes that generate, shape, and reshape the nervous system of animals, from the earliest stages of embryonic development to adulthood. The fie ...

* the development of second-generation

antidepressant Antidepressants are a class of medication used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain conditions, and to help manage addictions. Common side-effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, hea ...

s and

anti-psychotics Antipsychotics, also known as neuroleptics, are a class of psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia but also in a range of oth ...

* the discovery of genetic mutations responsible for

Huntington's disease Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is a neurodegenerative disease that is mostly inherited. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unst ...

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...

, and

Rett Syndrome Rett syndrome (RTT) is a genetic disorder that typically becomes apparent after 6–18 months of age and almost exclusively in females. Symptoms include impairments in language and coordination, and repetitive movements. Those affected often h ...

* the discovery of the neural origins and impacts of

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

Society also benefited from the Decade, through major cash infusions into early childhood development programs. Due to the funding of research into the physiological impact on the brain of children's early experiences, many states in the US began a great push for pre-school education. Today, almost 20 years later, most children in the US are enrolled in these types of programs. The Decade of the Brain also inspired the offshoot project, the

Decade of the Mind The Decade of the Mind Project is an international initiative to advance scientific understanding of how the mind and complex behaviors are related to the activity of human brains. The problem of explaining the mind is so complex as to require ...

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links