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hereDiscoveries › Seeking to understand what happens in the
brain to cause mental illness “Psychiatrists don’t treat
diseases. They treat symptoms.” This observation by Dr. Robert
Malenka reflects the lack of diagnostic tools and biologically-
based tests available for mental illness. There is not yet any
equivalent of electrocardiography (EKG) for heart disease or a
glucose test for diabetes for mental illness. Diagnoses are
based on observations of symptoms by clinical psychiatrists. Dr.
Malenka and colleagues have just published a new paper in Nature
that he considers a model of an ap