For many years I have been interested in how the brain actually works. I graduated from Sydney University in Arts, with majors in philosophy and psychology, and then in Medicine and Surgery. I trained as a Physician at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, as a Neurologist at Flinders Medical Centre and as an Assistant Neurologist at New York Hospital (Cornell University Medical College), including residency in Psychiatry. In 1984 I was fortunate to be appointed as an NHMRC Fellow and as a Clinical Neurologist at Flinders Medical Centre. The guiding idea in my research is that the brain integrates all the psychological, behavioural, physiological and biochemical processes that maintain the integrity of each individual life. There is just one nervous system. I have elucidated some of the actual brain neurotransmitter pathways that regulate the individual’s thermoregulatory response to environmental threat. These studies provided a link to the mechanism of action of the drugs used to treat mental illness. As an Emeritus Professor I am fortunate to remain part of the laboratory now headed by Dr Yo Yo Ootsuka. At present we are conducting experiments that we believe will elucidate the mechanism whereby lithium ameliorates the symptoms of mania.