Barb-SAN
06-29-2009, 04:31 PM
Newsweek, June 27, 2009: http://www.newsweek.com/id/204320 some excerpts from the article:
Understanding the biology of mental illness would be a paradigm shift in our thinking about mind. It would not only inform us about some of the most devastating diseases of humankind but, because these are diseases of thought and feeling, it would also tell us more about who we are and how we function.....
Scientists are also making progress in finding the biological markers for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive neurosis. Markers are essential to understanding the anatomical basis of mental disorders, diagnosing them objectively, and following their response to treatment, as well as perhaps preventing psychosis in those at high risk.
The most convincing scientific progress in psychiatry in the past decade has had little to do with genomics. It is the rigorous, scientific verification that certain forms of psychotherapy are effective. This is perhaps not surprising. One of the major insights in the modern biology of learning and memory is that education, experience, and social interactions affect the brain. When you learn something and then remember it for a long time, it's because genes are being turned on and off in certain brain cells, leading to the growth of new synaptic contacts between the nerve cells of the brain.
Insofar as psychotherapy works and produces stable, learned changes in behavior, it can cause stable anatomical changes in the brain. We are now beginning to measure such changes with brain imaging. If a person with obsessive-compulsive neurosis or depression undergoes psychotherapy—and if the treatment is successful in changing behavior—the treatment will cause a reversal in the biological markers of these disorders.
Taken together, these advances could open up new approaches to the treatment of depression, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia, areas that have been at a pharmacological standstill for decades. Along the way we may also learn something about who we are.
I wonder if someday in the near future we will be seeing the use of functional MRI's when treating anxiety disorders and fear of flying? It would be interesting to see actual changes in one's brain before and after conquering a phobia...and maybe just a little spooky too. :) It might be very reassuring too...just like when you can see that a broken leg or other physical injury has healed, and functions normally again. :thumbsup:
Understanding the biology of mental illness would be a paradigm shift in our thinking about mind. It would not only inform us about some of the most devastating diseases of humankind but, because these are diseases of thought and feeling, it would also tell us more about who we are and how we function.....
Scientists are also making progress in finding the biological markers for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive neurosis. Markers are essential to understanding the anatomical basis of mental disorders, diagnosing them objectively, and following their response to treatment, as well as perhaps preventing psychosis in those at high risk.
The most convincing scientific progress in psychiatry in the past decade has had little to do with genomics. It is the rigorous, scientific verification that certain forms of psychotherapy are effective. This is perhaps not surprising. One of the major insights in the modern biology of learning and memory is that education, experience, and social interactions affect the brain. When you learn something and then remember it for a long time, it's because genes are being turned on and off in certain brain cells, leading to the growth of new synaptic contacts between the nerve cells of the brain.
Insofar as psychotherapy works and produces stable, learned changes in behavior, it can cause stable anatomical changes in the brain. We are now beginning to measure such changes with brain imaging. If a person with obsessive-compulsive neurosis or depression undergoes psychotherapy—and if the treatment is successful in changing behavior—the treatment will cause a reversal in the biological markers of these disorders.
Taken together, these advances could open up new approaches to the treatment of depression, bipolar disorders, and schizophrenia, areas that have been at a pharmacological standstill for decades. Along the way we may also learn something about who we are.
I wonder if someday in the near future we will be seeing the use of functional MRI's when treating anxiety disorders and fear of flying? It would be interesting to see actual changes in one's brain before and after conquering a phobia...and maybe just a little spooky too. :) It might be very reassuring too...just like when you can see that a broken leg or other physical injury has healed, and functions normally again. :thumbsup: