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[Letters] Here comes the society of neuroscience!

Published: 09 Jan. 2012, 21:18

Science has been developed as time goes on. Among a lot of fields in science, neuroscience has been developed a lot these days. Neuroscience is the field which studies the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. Actually, with only a little improvement in neuroscience, several changes have already have occurred in our society, so, neuroscience will be more and more important.

Here is the start of a race for neuroscience. Actually, there were some attempts to research the brain indirectly through dreams, but they failed in explaining about the brain in detail. However, there has been much development in physics, chemistry and biology in recent decades. As a result, useful and non-invasive tools for investigation were invented, so, it became possible to investigate our brains in detail. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), which applies nuclear magnetic resonance phenomena, provides real-time images displaying activated sites in our brains. And electroencephalography (EEG) makes it possible to record electrical activity along the scalp. Therefore, we can expect many achievements from now on.

It will be possible to cure serious nervous diseases. Researchers have tried to find some ways to cure incurable nervous diseases, and some temporary treatments were invented. For example, by using levodopa, we can treat Parkinson’s disease temporarily. Also, there once was a suggestion of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease by using nerve growth factor. Furthermore, a recent study showed that oxytocin improves emotional expressions in autism. Although they are not perfect treatments yet, they have shown the possibilities of cure. So, we can expect that neuroscience will solve these problems perfectly.

Moreover, there are some changes in court. Some methods such as lie detection and brain fingerprinting can be used as the evidence. Thus neurolaw was created. The brain is connected to all human activities, so, we can expect the dawns of other branches from it.

Although neuroscience is in its early stages, it has shown new possibilities of huge impact. Before long, there will be more improvement, and most of people in the earth will notice it. Here comes the society of neuroscience.

Gwak Yeong-Jin, an undergraduate at KAIST