From HealthNewsDigest.com

Research
Study of Brain’s Role in Psychosomatic Medicine Should Be A ‘No-Brainer’
By
Mar 5, 2009 - 5:43:19 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - TUCSON, Ariz. -- One would think it’s a “no-brainer” to study the brain’s role in the relationship among the mind, body, health and disease, but that hasn’t been the case. However, recent advances in neuroscience can -- and should -- “bring the brain back” to psychosomatic medicine research, says Richard D. Lane, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and colleagues at other institutions across the United States and around the world.

These researchers make the case for studying the brain in two papers, “The Rebirth of Neuroscience in Psychosomatic Medicine, Part I and Part II,” published in the February/March issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, The Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine. The publication is the journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

According to the researchers, understanding the brain is a critical -- and missing -- component of research that aims to explain the pathways by which psychological, behavioral and social factors influence health and disease, information essential to optimizing health care.

The field of psychosomatic medicine was founded about 70 years ago on the premise that the mind and body were interrelated, based in part on evidence from the early 20th century that the brain played a critical role in the link between mental states and physical diseases. Psychosomatic research, however, has all too commonly studied the mind and body without the essential connection that is the brain.

Studying the brain’s role in physical and mental disease, the researchers contend, is necessary to answer such questions as how do emotions, behaviors or social factors contribute to health, disease or death. For example, one of the most important and promising areas for brain research in the area of mind-body medicine is understanding how depression influences the incidence of, and death rate from, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and stroke. Equally important, the researchers argue, is understanding how physical conditions can significantly influence feelings, productivity and quality of life.

“We now have a way to ‘map’ the links between the mind and body using new imaging techniques that allow non-invasive study of the living human brain,” says Dr. Lane. “This can greatly enhance our ability to identify the causal mechanisms that underlie the link between the mind and body and the origins and development of disease. The components are now in place to enable the field of brain-body research to take off.” In that regard, the articles discuss current brain imaging techniques for assessing brain structure and function in relation to mental states, including computed tomography (CT), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET). Such imaging can help us understand, for example, how popular mind-body medicine techniques affect brain activity, which in turn affects bodily functions and symptoms.

The articles also provide an overview of current knowledge about the relationship of brain function to cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic pain and the “placebo” response. As the brain’s contribution to medical conditions becomes better understood, treatments using strategic stimulation of parts of the brain will be possible. For example, a side effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treating Parkinson’s disease and vagus nerve stimulation for treating epilepsy was the relief of depressive symptoms; now those therapies have been adapted to treat depression.

Brain research also will play a role in the emerging field of “personalized medicine.” For example, information about the brain structure and function of a patient with depressive symptoms can help predict how he or she will respond to a given treatment, such as medication, lifestyle changes or certain forms of psychotherapy.

“A change in research focus to include the brain will have profound implications, not only for how mental and physical health can be improved, but also for health care in general,” says Dr. Lane. “We have the opportunity to understand how psychological and social factors are represented in the brain. If it can be shown that this new approach can improve health and save money, a new era of a more humanistic medicine may be initiated.”

www.HealthNewsDigest.com