The Other Side of Normal

Smoller (psychiatry & epidemiology, Harvard Univ.) has written a highly interesting and accessible study of brain science and behavior. Couching his discussion in the familiar debate about nature vs. nurture, he makes the case that these forces work together in a complicated dance that determines human individuality. He frequently references the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the controversies there surrounding the definitions of normal vs. abnormal behavior. He seems to conclude that what is normal is most frequently defined in contrast to what is not normal. He ends his investigation of the normal by noting that abnormal behavior can be treated, the brain "rewired" with drug therapy. Smoller leaves unanswered the question of the ethical implications of manipulating the "abnormal" brain.