ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the human brain develops from the embryo onward, how it works, and why it sometimes fails to function as it should. It suggests that higher level phenomena like mental activity are best understood in terms of lower level phenomena like brain activity. The chapter also suggests that scientific evidence by itself, no matter how compelling it may be, is insufficient to prove that mental illness is reducible to brain illness. The battle against mental illness stigma comprises two facets, one being the replacement of dualistic philosophies with physicalism, and the second being research to strengthen the case for a science-based psychiatry. It will be useful to bear in mind a few basic facts as considered the role that genes play in causing schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. The idea among leading researchers is that schizophrenia results from the combined effects of a genetic predisposition and environmental stress.
