In his lab at the University of California, Berkeley, Full studies the biomechanics behind animal movement, trying to identify which species are the best at executing specific types of motion, such as running, climbing or crawling and then attempting to pinpoint exactly what biological features makes these creatures so skilled at what they do.

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One alternative is a proposal that the NIMH has been developing for three years, called the Research Domain Criteria, which will move toward funding research that examines core biological features of illness shared by several disorders, such as problems in brain circuitry, rather than the current practice of focusing on symptoms specific to one disorder, according to Dr. Insel.

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