JAMA theme issue on neurology: Call for papers

摘要

JAMA will be publishing a theme issue on neurology in April 2014 to coincide with the American Academy of Neurology Scientific Sessions. It is appropriate and timely, coinciding with President Obama's announcement of a major new neurosci-ence enterprise, the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. This initiative has grown out of the Brain Activity Map (BAM) project enthusiastically supported by National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy. The BAM project is still evolving in concept and direction. With the long-term goal to map the activity of every neuron in the human brain, the initial proposal is to study the combination of connectivity mapping with elec-trophysiological activity of single neurons and circuits in association with messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels in small regions of the brain to develop insights into information processing and storage. Whereas the Human Genome Project was a major stimulus for advancing the understanding of genomics in the 20th century, the BAM project may provide similar impressive advances in answering the fundamental question: How does the brain work? The BAM project provides a fitting culmination of the impressive basic and clinical neuroscientific advances that have occurred in the past decade. The JAMA theme issue on neurology is intended to capture this progress by providing key articles across a broad perspective, complementing the diverse interests of our readers.