x DIRECTORS’ FOREWORD
the basis of their skills and put them to work in laboratories that were
set up to study basic mechanisms of brain function, rather than disease-
specific investigations. The camaraderie and collegiality of the labora
tories was palpable, according to those early researchers. The discoveries
and advances that resulted were numerous.
In 1960, when more funding became available, the joint NIMH
NINDS basic research program was separated, and each developed its
own intramural research program. With subsequent rapid advance
ments, the neurosciences have become more and more specialized,
which has meant tremendous growth at the NIH. Neuroscience pro
grams have spilled over the borders of its campus in Bethesda, with seve
ral satellite offices now scattered throughout the Bethesda/Rockville area.
Along with that growth has come a less connected, more fragmented
scientific neuroscience community at the NIH, even though the most
exciting discoveries of the last decade tell us that similar, and in some
cases, the same biological mechanisms underlie both neurological and
psychological disorders. For example, common mechanisms of nerve cell
degeneration probably underlie Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia,
and the depression that follows stroke. Similar alterations in the mech
anisms of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine can cause
thought disorders, such as schizophrenia, or movement disorders, such
as Parkinson’s disease.
To lead the re-integration of the neurosciences, and recapture the
stimulating collaborative nature of the early laboratories, the NIH has
created a National Neuroscience Research Center. This Center, located
in the newly constructed John E. Porter Neuroscience Building on the
Bethesda campus, will house physicians and scientists from the eleven
different NIH institutes involved in neuroscience research, grouped ac
cording to their research interests rather than their institute affiliation.
This bold initiative will increase the pace of discovery in all areas of
neuroscience. Thus, we hope to continue the longstanding tradition of
the NIH as the crucible for many of the most exciting discoveries in the
neurosciences. Trends in research may come and go, but there has always