It's true that we don't know everything there is to know the brain, and critically we have zero idea where consciousness actually comes from; where 'you' exist within your brain.
But we do know a whole hell of a lot of details. A bunch of the different chemicals inside of the brain, how they influence behavior and mood. We know a whole bunch about different receptors and have drugs to modify their behavior. We're now able to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate nerve cells in the brain and are able to use that to help people suffering from depression, OCD, and to help mathematical cognition [1].
Our knowledge is hampered by the difficulty of research in this area. The cost of imaging techniques - specifically SPECT scans which use 5-7 Tesla machines which use liquid helium which is super difficult to work with. This means there's not really a way to test exactly which medication will help a given individual other than to give it to them, but don't mistake that for a total lack of knowledge about how things work. We do actually know the method of action on how those drugs work, which ones are agonists and which ones are antagonist and which don't mix.
Better real-world treatment options would be really awesome! It sucks that we can't do any better. Cheap and better imaging options would really change the status quo and allow better real-world treatment for mental illness. But what we do know takes years, if not decades for a person to learn, so even though things are still changing in the field, even though we can't answer some fundamental questions about consciousness, we understand a whole hell of a lot more than "it's located in your head and weighs a few pounds".
I don’t disagree, there is of course a body of knowledge, which rapid churn implies that we are accreting that at a good pace.
And yet, despite all this, no better treatments that amphetamines have been found for so many cognitive disorders.
100 years old drug, and to prescribe which you don’t even need to know how much the brain weighs.
What is the use to the laity of all this research, if half of the time the answer is stimulants, the other have is SSRI?
I think we will be seeing the most promising area in sleep, because it’s so underserved and you can collect a lot relevant data inexpensively and un-intrusively.
It's true that we don't know everything there is to know the brain, and critically we have zero idea where consciousness actually comes from; where 'you' exist within your brain.
But we do know a whole hell of a lot of details. A bunch of the different chemicals inside of the brain, how they influence behavior and mood. We know a whole bunch about different receptors and have drugs to modify their behavior. We're now able to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate nerve cells in the brain and are able to use that to help people suffering from depression, OCD, and to help mathematical cognition [1].
Our knowledge is hampered by the difficulty of research in this area. The cost of imaging techniques - specifically SPECT scans which use 5-7 Tesla machines which use liquid helium which is super difficult to work with. This means there's not really a way to test exactly which medication will help a given individual other than to give it to them, but don't mistake that for a total lack of knowledge about how things work. We do actually know the method of action on how those drugs work, which ones are agonists and which ones are antagonist and which don't mix.
Better real-world treatment options would be really awesome! It sucks that we can't do any better. Cheap and better imaging options would really change the status quo and allow better real-world treatment for mental illness. But what we do know takes years, if not decades for a person to learn, so even though things are still changing in the field, even though we can't answer some fundamental questions about consciousness, we understand a whole hell of a lot more than "it's located in your head and weighs a few pounds".
[1] https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/978019...