A panoptic view

A less conventional yet highly powerful outcome of increased integration is that it will lead to the identification of common pathways between very different research fields. For example, recently the notion has grown that the connection between the enteric and central nervous system (the gut-brain axis) is a crucial node in an increasing number of neurodegenerative disorders. Similarly, cross-pollination between peripheral and central nervous system research could expedite the identification of novel phenotypic readouts and therapeutic approaches.

The growing insight of interconnectedness also calls for a more holistic (multi-organ) approach to understanding diseases of the nervous system. Both technologically and biologically a panoptic approach offers multiple advantages:

• Fast exchange of novel findings between neuroscience domains.
• Increased probability of revealing the interrelatedness of pathogenic events.
• The ability to apply, fine-tune and validate novel technologies to a broad span of pathologies.
• Sharing of expertise and model systems, as well as putative therapeutics.