War is hell, as the old saying goes -- with loss of life and limb, destruction of infrastructure and the environment, and devastating costs. But other pernicious consequences of military conflict include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury and other such conditions.

The 89th Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease (ARNMD), organized in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and held Dec. 16 at Rockefeller University, examined the psychological and neurological aspects of war -- from the experience of a Marine colonel in war and a presentation on "the mind of the terrorist" to a lecture on preventing mass violence given by Weill Cornell Medical College's Dr. David A. Hamburg, a leading expert on genocide.

"In the context of ongoing military conflict and extremist violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, it is ever more important that we work to ameliorate the consequences of war as it affects the physical and mental health of combatants and non-combatants alike," said Dr. Jack Barchas, conference coordinator, chairman of the ARNMD board of trustees and chair of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. "At the same time, we endeavor to better understand and address some of the underlying motivations that perpetuate violence."

Panel sessions addressed cutting-edge research, treatment approaches and public policy issues with the goal of creating an agenda for further inquiry and action. Highlights included:

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