Knowledge of exactly how the brain works will change everything.
Despite all our technical advances in brain-mapping, we still do
not fully understand how the human or nonhuman brain works as a
complete organ—e.g., the interconnectedness of the separate
areas we are currently mapping. Just as we are beginning to
learn that it is not "the" gene that controls what happens in
our bodies, but rather the interplay of many genes, proteins,
and environmental influences that turn genes on and off, we will
learn how the interplay of various neural tissues, the chemicals
in our body, environmental influences, and possibly some current
unknowns, come together to affect how the brain works…and that
will change everything. We will, for example: (a) ameliorate
diseases in which the brain stops working properly—from diseases
involving cognitive deficits such as Alzheimers to those
involving issues of physical control such as Parkinsons. We will
monitor just when the brain stops functioning optimally and
begin interventions