Plasticity – the capacity for change – is increasingly recognized as an intrinsic property of the adult brain and may play important roles in the etiologies and treatments of neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
Neuropsychiatry recognizes that the brain and mind are one, that mental illnesses are disorders of the brain, and that psychiatric symptoms are commonly found in neurological disorders.
One important goal of neuropsychiatric research is to bridge the gap between neurology and psychiatry.
Among the group's most important research goals at present is to:
• provide new knowledge about the genetic architecture of the brainstem and thalamus regions and their roles in neurological and psychiatric diseases
• provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying functional neurological disorders
• provide new knowledge about how gene variants associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affect cortical synaptic function and neuronal excitability
• provide new insights into the brain substrate for human behavior.