Will neurobiology rise to the translational challenges and opportunities of late-life geriatric psychiatry?
نویسنده
چکیده
mproved care and treatments of subjects suffering I from age-related brain illnesses will come through a better understanding of basic biologic mechanisms engaged during both normal and pathologic states. The urgency of this statement is underscored by the rapidly growing aging population and extending longevity, topics often debated in the columns of this journal and summarized by Evans in this issue and by the large gaps in the current knowledge of the biologic bases of aging and of aging of the brain in particular. The premise that the biologic understanding of ageand brain-related mechanisms will lead to strategies and therapies to treat and prevent neuropsychiatric disorders of late life and to promote healthy and successful aging rests on the following tenets. First, complex brain functions and disorders are the expression of deregulated biologic functions that span multiple biologic scales, from genes and cells up to neural networks and behaviors. Second, the complexity of the brain under health and disease conditions can be deconstructed down to biologic levels that are amenable to molecular targeting. Indeed, the field of investigation of the neurobiology of diseases is concerned with cellular and molecular mechanisms of those illnesses and with the identification of targets that can be used to manipulate biologic and functional outcomes. However, current therapeutic agents used in psychiatry originate mostly from the serendipitous discovery of compounds displaying clinical efficacy, as illustrated by antidepressants and neuroleptics for instance, and
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عنوان ژورنال:
- The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
دوره 21 5 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2013