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NEW YORK – Will it ever be possible to trace the neuronal pathways of specific mental states as they speed through our brains? Hear Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, the National Institute of Mental Health’s new director, share his thoughts on just such a technology in an interview recorded just days before he assumed his new role at the world’s largest mental health research organization.
In the interview, Dr. Gordon also addresses whether the use of “optogenetics” – a novel therapy developed by neuroscientists that, if it works, promises to track mental disorders such as anxiety or depression – creates ethical dilemmas when deciding whether these disorders should be turned “on” or “off.”
“When I treat patients, I treat them because they are overwhelmed with depression, or because they’re hearing voices that are scary or ruining their lives, or because they have intractable anxiety,” Dr. Gordon said. “To relieve those symptoms, there is no ethical dilemma in my mind.”
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
[email protected]
On Twitter @whitneymcknight
NEW YORK – Will it ever be possible to trace the neuronal pathways of specific mental states as they speed through our brains? Hear Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, the National Institute of Mental Health’s new director, share his thoughts on just such a technology in an interview recorded just days before he assumed his new role at the world’s largest mental health research organization.
In the interview, Dr. Gordon also addresses whether the use of “optogenetics” – a novel therapy developed by neuroscientists that, if it works, promises to track mental disorders such as anxiety or depression – creates ethical dilemmas when deciding whether these disorders should be turned “on” or “off.”
“When I treat patients, I treat them because they are overwhelmed with depression, or because they’re hearing voices that are scary or ruining their lives, or because they have intractable anxiety,” Dr. Gordon said. “To relieve those symptoms, there is no ethical dilemma in my mind.”
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
[email protected]
On Twitter @whitneymcknight
NEW YORK – Will it ever be possible to trace the neuronal pathways of specific mental states as they speed through our brains? Hear Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, the National Institute of Mental Health’s new director, share his thoughts on just such a technology in an interview recorded just days before he assumed his new role at the world’s largest mental health research organization.
In the interview, Dr. Gordon also addresses whether the use of “optogenetics” – a novel therapy developed by neuroscientists that, if it works, promises to track mental disorders such as anxiety or depression – creates ethical dilemmas when deciding whether these disorders should be turned “on” or “off.”
“When I treat patients, I treat them because they are overwhelmed with depression, or because they’re hearing voices that are scary or ruining their lives, or because they have intractable anxiety,” Dr. Gordon said. “To relieve those symptoms, there is no ethical dilemma in my mind.”
The video associated with this article is no longer available on this site. Please view all of our videos on the MDedge YouTube channel
[email protected]
On Twitter @whitneymcknight
