And earlier this month, scientists at Stanford University announced they had discovered a way to make a brain as clear as glass, allowing them to trace neural networks wherever they may lead.

WSJ: Brain Science: Mysterious Neural Circuitry Becomes Viewable

Nor is it clear that brain surgeons would make a better fist of legislation than ordinary people with guts and common sense.

ECONOMIST: Parliamentary expenses

It isn't at all clear that Merck's brain drugs will come soon enough, and be successful enough, to make up for the expiration of the Zocor patent.

FORBES: Betting on the brain