50 Years of Neuroscience: Progress and a Look Into the Future

Post by Stephanie Williams

What’s the science?

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Society for Neuroscience, a group of scientists comment on the progress made in neuroscience over the previous 50 years. This week in The Journal of Neuroscience, Altimus, Marlin and colleagues review neuroscience research advancements and express a vision for the impact of future research.

What do we already know?

The authors review research in four major categories: 1) cellular and molecular neuroscience 2) developmental neuroscience 3) systems neuroscience and 4) disease. In the cellular section, the authors highlight technological innovation (patch-clamp electrophysiology, PCR, genomic sequencing), and progress made in the connectome project and in the creation of a cellular atlas of the mammalian brain. While acknowledging the reductive approach of some of these advancements, the authors argue that they will serve as a stepping stone to more detailed knowledge and will allow for novel cellular targeting strategies. In the development section, the authors highlight progress in understanding gene expression (i.e. the transcriptome) of neurons, whole-genome sequencing, the development of brain organoids and Brainbow, a fluorescent imaging approach in which individual neurons can be imaged using different colors. They review the debate over the existence of adult neurogenesis (production of new neurons) and cite recent evidence suggesting that adult hippocampal neurogenesis is indeed robust in healthy humans. In systems neuroscience, the authors focus on the potential of virally mediated gene-editing to study ensembles of neurons. They also point out the lack of precision in many behavioral measurements, which limits our ability to correlate behavior with neural activity. The authors list several brain-computer interface (BCI) advancements including BCI-mediated limb movement and visual imagery in the blind. In the disease section, the authors highlight the importance of collaborative research initiatives (eg. BRAIN, dementia research led by the United Kingdom), in accelerating research progress. They praise the progress made in psychiatric research, including the recent FDA approved treatments for major depressive disorder (esketamine), brexanolone (postpartum depression), siponimod (multiple sclerosis).

What’s next?

In cellular and molecular neuroscience, the authors predict that advancements in microscopy will allow us to visualize subcellular machinery at an unprecedented resolution. They predict that new tools will allow us to measure and manipulate epigenetic endpoints to better understand how the genome, transcriptome, and proteome relate to behavior. In the developmental neuroscience section, the authors call for the development of new technologies that can label neurons in vivo and be imaged non invasively, as well as tools that may be able to control neurogenesis across the lifespan. The authors predict that characterizing the transcriptome of neurons will lead to a new understanding of cell types. They also speculate that technological advances will resolve the difficulties that currently limit the establishment of brain organoids; brain organoids could one day act as a tool for screening potential therapies or replacing damaged brain tissue. In the systems neuroscience section, the authors predict that more precise behavioral measurements will allow for a better understanding of the corresponding neural activity. They suggest implementing new methods, such as computer vision, to automate and improve behavioral measurement and analysis. The authors predict that new imaging methods will be developed, such as cellular-resolution functional neuroimaging in humans, and hope that the imaging methods will be used to record from and interact with neural circuits in real-time. In the disease section, the authors predict we will enter an age of neurotherapeutics, characterized by an increase in the number of specific therapies for nervous system disorders. They foresee the use of technology—activity trackers and automated analysis tools—to improve diagnostics. They hope to see a shift towards preventative measures.

As a community, the authors call for scientists to prioritize addressing the lack of diversity in neuroscience, both in how research is conducted and the topics of research themselves. The authors criticize previous research for asymmetrically focusing on right-handed males, and previous clinical trials and genetic studies for asymmetrically focusing individuals of European descent. The authors also highlight the impact of neuroscience on education and recommend using neurodevelopmental and cognitive neuroscience to implement widespread changes in educational curricula so that students with disorders such as dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, can learn more effectively.  

Finally, the authors make several predictions about areas that will become more prominent in the next fifty years. They predict the rapid expansion of using neuroscience to explain criminal behavior, inform business practices, and advance wearable neurotechnology to customize marketing strategies.

What's the bottom line? 

Neuroscience has come a long way in the past 50 years, and it’s an exciting time to pursue promising new avenues for research. In all pursuits, the authors call for caution and strict adherence to ethical principles as the field continues to accelerate, and emphasize the importance of international collaboration and the coordination of research internationally and across disciplines.

Altimus et al. The Next 50 Years of Neuroscience. The Journal of Neuroscience. (2019). Access the original scientific publication here.