As a result of social progress, the disease spectrum changes continuously. In recent years, encephalopathy has become a current leading project to study in the world. In the first session of the 101st U.S. Congress in 1989, a resolution was adopted that determined the ten years from January 1, 1990 on to be " the decade of brain." In Japan, a Scientific Program of Human Frontal Research Field was also declared that strengthened studies on the brain. The traditional Chinese medicine with a long history has also gained many achievements in studies on encephalopathy and its clinical treatment.
It is estimated that in the United States there are about 50 million people who have become affected or maimed with encephalopathy and that their expenses for treatment and convalescence are as high as $3 050 hundred million. If the figure is put into a global consideration, the cost will be horrifying. It is quite evident that both the development of science and the need of clinical treatment expect the science of neurology to have a greater development.
The traditional Chinese medicine has rich cognition of the structure and functions of the brain, although the content of the cognition is relatively abstractive from the angle of modern anatomy. For examples, in《Treatise on Channels. In: Miraculous Pivot》, there is such as account: "Essence of life is the essential substances constituting human body and maintaining life's activities, and brain

Author's unit: Guangdong Gaoming Medical and Medicinal Institute of Encephalopathy, Gaoming, Guangdong 528500
marrow is formed by the kidney essence"; in《Elementary Medicine》there is an account of "Brain is the sea of marrow, where the marrow converges", and in《Treatise on Training and Cultivating Oneself to Attain Immortality and Distinguishing Perplexities. In: Zhi Xuan Pian》there is an account of "so the head (brain) has nine palaces (compartments), with the upper complying with the number of nine, the palace in the center is called mud ball, or brain center, or kunlun, or upper elixir field, with many names. The nine palaces of the brain are compartments where the spirit and divinity live, empty as valley, with mental activities in it, also known as mental faculties in quiescent state. They exist where there is vitality and die where there is no vitality. They are associated with things in daytime and with dreams in the night, with mentality not stabilizing in them." Treatment with syndrome differentiation according to the peculiar basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine makes traditional Chinese medicine serve clinical practice better and thus obtain better curative effect. In the understanding of physiology of the brain, traditional Chinese medicine pays great attention to the idea of "vitality", it holds that the brain governs mental activity and is the house of mental activity, emphasizing that vitality is a complete reflection of mentality, consciousness and thinking. In the functions of the brain, it is regarded as the organ of lucid yang, and has the function to rise, a natural inclination for clear qi and a natural inclination of being averse to turbid qi, a natural inclination for filling and a natural inclination of being averse to deficiency, and a natural inclination for quietness and a natural inclination of being averse to disturbance. In the《Classified Canon》compiled by Zhang Jiebin of the Ming Dynasty, there is such an account: "All the vital essence and energy of the five zang-organs and the six fu-organs go upward to the head for utilization by the seven orifices, so the head is the house of intelligence." The brain has a close relationship to the five viscera, especially the heart, liver and kidney, so "the heart is the key of five solid organs and six hollow organs and controls spirit." In traditional Chinese medicine, the heart governs vessels and controls mental activities, the liver governs normal flow of qi and has a natual inclination of being averse to depression. The liver is in change of anger and the tendons and has a close relationship to nerves and mentality. The kidney stores reproductive essence and food essence, deficiency of the kidney-essence may result in a series of mental symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine holds that encephalopathy may be caused by internal injury, affection by exopathogen and phlegm stagnancy. The internal injury refers mainly to impairment of the function of internal organs, caused by emotional strain, improper diet, or intemperance in sexual life, which produces a variety of neuropsychoses. Affection by exopathogen refers mainly to encephalopathy produced by any of the six external etiological factors (wind, cold, summer-heat, dampness, dryness and fire) or other noxious factors. Phlegm and stagnancy are also the common factors which leads to encephalopathy. With the development of traditional Chinese medicine, researches on the brain are, for the most part, focused on the function and pathology of the brain and on the application of treatment with syndrome differentiation, and clinical and experimental studies have been uninterruptedly carried out to obtain reproducible stable curative effect and to explain mechanism of action as far as possible. In view of the change in medical modes, researches on encephalopathy in traditional Chinese medicine will have a greater development in biologic, psychologic, social and medical modes.