Whether it’s improving quality of life or embracing the latest technology, the promise of an advancing field is motivation for many neuroscientists to pursue and support meaningful research.
Here, six neuroscientists share what inspires them about the field.
What is most exciting to you? Share your answer in the comments to join the conversation.
“Exploring the realm of the unknown and applying it to what we know.”
-Olivia Samotus, London Health Sciences Centre
“The real diversity of scientists coming into the field and changing our ideas about neuroscience by challenging foundational principles. Take epigenetics: We used to think the genome was static. Now we can see that there are all sorts of modifications and different changes in hystones, and elements that cause genes to be expressed less or more. It is so interesting to see the field evolve.”
-Jessica Ross, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
“The tools we have for research have advanced enormously over the last few years, which gives us the ability to ask and answer questions that we haven't been able to before. Advances in genetics, imaging, and modulation of brain circuits give us the ability to better understand how the brain works and hopefully better treat diseases.”
-Lynn Dobrunz, University of Alabama at Birmingham
“There are so many different people with different areas of expertise and different backgrounds. It’s going in so many directions at the same time, and everyone is contributing to it in their own way.”
-Ayesha Sengupta, University of New Oxford
“Being able to understand psychiatric illness and how we can make people's lives better rather than just simply understanding the science.”
-Julia Gottwald, University of Cambridge
“The vast amount of diseases in neuroscience that are just waiting to be cured.”
-Sonia Chandi, Marshall University
