The Healing Brain: A Scientific Reader - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0898624630 ISBN 13: 9780898624632

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1991

Synopsis

It has long been known that the body may respond positively when an individual believes that he or she has been given medication. For years the placebo effect remained an isolated and unexplained phenomenon. Recent research has shown, however, that psychological states and life traumas, including divorce and loss of employment, can adversely affect immune system responses. This volume, composed of contributions by noted researchers in psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience, explain the fascinating investigations of brain-mind-body relationships that are changing the way we think about health and illness.

The book's first three chapters demonstrate how the brain operates as a health maintenance organization and describe the brain's growth in response to experience. Psychosocial factors in healing are explored in chapters that examine the social environment's effect on susceptibility to illness, the mechanisms and implications of the placebo effect, and the ways in which social support and health are related. Included is a chapter entitled ``The Broken Heart,'' an exceptional explication of the psychobiology of human contact.

Because healing does not merely return the mind or the body to its presymptomatic condition, but more usually brings about lasting change, chapters on psychoneuroimmunology examine the neuropeptide and emotions interactions that promote healing. Possible psychoneuroimmunological mechanisms are considered, and the emerging field as a whole is discussed with a special note on the timely question of AIDS.

The section on coping and stress investigates why demanding situations affect some people's health adversely whereas others thrive under the same duress. Topics include stress resistant personality and coronary-prone behaviors, and examinations of environmental factors that influence health. Other chapters on diet and nutrition, examine how food affects the brain and how the brain regulates body weight.

Together, the articles in this volume describe a world of scientific research that offers potent possibilities for the future of mental and physical health care. It will prove invaluable reading for all mental health clinicians and researchers, physicians, and serious readers interested in the health and well being of the human organism.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Ornstein ,Einstein Medical Center , Bronx N.Y.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION. 1. The Brain as a Health Maintenance Organization, Ornstein & Sobel. 2. How the Brain Grows in Response to Experience, Diamond. PSYCHO-SOCIAL FACTORS IN HEALING: 3. The Contributions of the Social Environment to Host Resistance, Cassel. 4. Medical Pluralism, Good. 5. Mind-Made Health: The Placebo Effect and the Intrinsic Healing Systems of the Body, Sobel. 6. The Broken Heart: The Psychobiology of Human Contact, Lynch. 7. People Need People: Social Support and Health, Minkler. ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES: 8. Air Ions and Brain Chemistry, Diamond. 9. Ways that Foods can Affect the Brain, Wurtman. 10. Behavior and Nutrition: Strategies Used in Studies of Amino Acids, Protein, Carbohydrate and Caffeine, Lieberman & Spring. PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY: 11. Self-Healing: A Personal History, Dubos. 12. The Wisdom of the Receptors: Neuropeptides, the Emotions, and Bodymind, Pert. 13. Possible Mechanisms of Psychoneuroimmunological Interaction, Lloyd. 14. Emotions, Stress, and Immunity, Solomon. 15. The Emerging Field of Psycho-neuroimmunology, with a Special Note on AIDS, Solomon. THE BRAIN'S REGULATION OF THE BODY: 16. Desirable Weight and Longevity: Status of the Controversy, Andres. COPING WITH STRESS: 17. Stress Resistant Personality, Kobasa. 18. The Salutogenic Model of Health, Antonovsky. 19. Type A Behavior, Swencionis & Mosca. CONCLUSION: 20. Where Do We Go From Here?, Ornstein & Swencionis

About this edition

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0898624630
• ISBN 13: 9780898624632
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 262
• Editor: Ornstein Robert, Swencionis Charles