Brain research has been accelerating rapidly in recent decades, but the translation of our many discoveries into treatments and cures for brain disorders has not happened as many expected. We do not have cures for the vast majority of brain illnesses, and many medications we have to treat the brain are derived from drugs produced in the 1950s—before we knew much about the brain at all. Tackling brain disorders is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity today. What will it take to overcome it? Nicole Rust takes listeners along on her journey to answer this question.

Drawing on decades of experience, Rust reflects on how far we have come in our quest to unlock the secrets of the brain and what remains to be discovered. She shows us that treating a brain disorder is more like redirecting a hurricane than fixing a domino chain of cause and effect, arguing that only once we embrace the idea of the brain as a complex system do we have any hope of finding cures. Rust profiles the pioneering ideas about the brain that are driving research at the cutting edge to illuminate exactly how much we know about disorders—and what it will take to eradicate these scourges.

Elusive Cures sheds light on one of the most daunting challenges confronted by science while offering hope for revolutionary new treatments and cures for the brain.