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Conclusions 473role to play in how these effects unfold. In some cases, the environment surroundingthe newborn selects which genes will be expressed. In other cases, genes thatpredispose to disorder must be present for an environmental insult to produceadverse effects (e.g., in schizophrenia). In either case, the emergence of disorderis contingent on the environmental experience of the individual. This more nuancedunderstanding of the role of genetic influences has not been fully absorbedby either the scientific or lay community. Efforts to increase the understanding ofthese processes in secondary and undergraduate education should be a high priority.Public education regarding the reversibility of disorders in brain developmentshould also be pursued. Neuroscience programs at the undergraduate andgraduate levels are expanding rapidly, and these courses of study are ideal venuesfor examining the role of genetic and environmental influences on brain developmentand its consequences for mental health. Ultimately, the appreciationof this fundamental reality should help to reduce stigma associated with mentaldisorder and increase our ability to treat and prevent such disorders in the future.Kandel (1998) called for new approaches to the study and treatment of mentaldisorder that would transform several of the basic oppositions that have definedscientific and lay understandings for decades. We see in this collection that twoof these defining dichotomies, “nature versus nurture” and “biology versus behavior,”are giving way to a more nuanced appreciation of development, in whichnature is interwoven with nurture and behavior influences biology. In this mostexciting time, we look forward to continued progress in our ability to apply thisunderstanding to the prevention and treatment of mental disorder during childhoodand adolescence and to increased opportunities for healthy development intoadulthood.ReferencesBuchanan, A. (1996). Cycles of child maltreatment: Facts, fallacies and interventions.New York: Wiley.Evans, D. L., Foa, E. B., Gur, R. E., Hendin, H., O’Brien, C. P., Seligman, M. E. P., &Walsh, B. T. (2005). Treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders: Whatwe know and what we don’t know. New York: Oxford University Press.Gomby, D., Culross, P. L., & Behrman, R. E. (1999). Home visiting: Recent programevaluations—analysis and recommendations. The Future of Children, 9(1), 4–26.Izzo, C. V., Eckenrode, J. J., Smith, E. G., Henderson, C. R., Cole, R. E., Kitzman, H. J.,& Olds, D. (2005). Reducing the impact of uncontrollable stressful life events througha program of nurse home visitation for new parents. Prevention Science, 6(4), 269–274.Kandel, E. R. (1998). A new intellectual framework for psychiatry. American Journal ofPsychiatry, 155, 457–469.Keshavan, M. S., & Hogarty, G. E. (1999). Brain maturational processes and delayed onsetin schizophrenia. Development & Psychopathology, 11(3), 525–543.