# 317 | Nicole Rust on Why Neuroscience Hasn't Solved Brain Disorders

An episode of [Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1406534739), 9 Jun 2025, 1 h 15 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/1d1ac211-8392-45fe-82db-99fa7f77076e/Nicole20Rust.mp3?dest-id=5264190

The human brain is extremely complicated, but decades of careful neuroscientific research have revealed quite a bit about how it works, including how certain genes affect particular brain behaviors. Nevertheless, this progress has not led to quite as much improvement in the treatment of brain disorders as we might expect. I talk with neuroscientist Nicole Rust about why this is and how to improve the situation, as discussed in her new book Elusive Cures. Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/06/09/317-nicole-rust-on-why-neuroscience-hasnt-solved-brain-disorders/ Support Mindscape on Patreon. Nicole C. Rust received her Ph.D. in neuroscience from New York University. She is currently a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a contributing editor at The Transmitter and an editor at BrainFacts.org. Among her awards are the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences. • Web site • UPenn web page • Google Scholar publications • Wikipedia • Bluesky

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