Mental illness: The collision of meaning with mechanism

2020 ◽  
pp. 263-289
Author(s):  
Steven E. Hyman ◽  
Doug McConnell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Gene Regulation ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Clinical Encounter ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
And Function ◽  
Human Brains ◽  
The Brain

‘Mental illness: the collision of meaning with mechanism’ is based on the views of psychiatry that Steven Hyman articulated in his Loebel Lectures—mental illness results from the disordered functioning of the human brain and effective treatment repairs or mitigates those malfunctions. This view is not intended as reductionist as causes of mental illness and contributions to their repair may come from any source that affects the structure and function of the brain. These might include social interactions and other sources of lived experience, ideas (such as those learned in cognitive therapy), gene sequences and gene regulation, metabolic factors, drugs, electrodes, and so on. This, however, is not the whole story for psychiatry on Hyman’s view; interpersonal interactions between clinicians and patients, intuitively understood in such folk psychological terms as selfhood, intention, and agency are also critical for successful practice. As human beings who are suffering, patients seek to make sense of their lives and benefit from the empathy, respect, and a sense of being understood not only as the objects of a clinical encounter, but also as subjects. Hyman’s argument, however, is that the mechanisms by which human brains function and malfunction to produce the symptoms and impairments of mental illness are opaque to introspection and that the mechanistic understandings necessary for diagnosis and treatment are incommensurate with intuitive (folk psychological) human self-understanding. Thus, psychiatry does best when skillful clinicians switch between an objectifying medical and neurobiological stance and the interpersonal stance in which the clinician engages the patients as a subject. Attempts to integrate these incommensurate views of patients and their predicaments have historically produced incoherent explanations of psychopathology and have often led treatment astray. For example, privileging of folk psychological testimony, even when filtered through sophisticated theories has historically led psychiatry into intellectually blind and clinically ineffective cul-de-sacs such as psychoanalysis.

Neuroimaging: Clinical Applications

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 689-690
Author(s):  
Jarl Risberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Measurement Technology ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Function ◽  
Further Development ◽  
The Brain

Imaging of the structure and function of the human brain has grown to an area with increasing impact on neuropsychological research as well as on the routine clinical evaluation of brain damaged patients. The scientific and popular literature is now flooded by increasingly more spectacular pictures of the brain. The images no longer only illustrate what is well known from earlier research but they do also sometimes provide information of importance for the further development of neuropsychological theories. The two volumes edited by Erin D. Bigler, Neuroimaging I and II, offer a possibility for neuropsychologists and other interested readers to get acquainted with the more recent developments in measurement technology and applications in basic science (Volume I) as well as in the clinic (Volume II). The authors of the 24 chapters are generally outstanding researchers, with impressive expertise within their fields of specialization.

Images of the Brain in Psychiatry

1986 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Gordon ◽  
C. Kraiuhin ◽  
R. A. Meares
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Psychiatric Disorders ◽  
Brain Structure ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
And Function ◽  
Rcbf Spect ◽  
The Brain

In psychiatry, the use of computer-based techniques for constructing images of the brain is relatively recent. Nevertheless, findings that have resulted from their use thus far might provide us with a new perspective in the understanding of mental illness. They raise the possibility that many of the disorders, previously understood primarily in terms of psychosocial factors, are associated with specific abnormalities of brain structure and/or function. Although terms such as NMR, BEAM, RCBF, SPECT and PET are increasingly found in medical and psychiatric journals, few people understand in simple terms the principles on which these techniques are based. In this article the techniques used for constructing images of brain structure and function are explained, and an overview of the findings in psychiatric disorders is presented.

scholarly journals The Octopus: A Unique Animal for Studying the Brain

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tal Shomrat ◽  
Nir Nesher
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Complex Learning ◽  
Grade Teacher ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

What are the structures and functions of the brain that are important for complex learning, such as the ability to quickly figure out how to activate a new application in your smartphone? What are the brain mechanisms that allow memories, like the name of your first-grade teacher, to be stored and quickly recalled, even many years later? Which part of the brain generates the creativity and flexibility of thought necessary for learning a new smartphone interface, for example? These questions are some of the most studied in neuroscience, which is the science that studies the brain and nervous system. In this article, we will tell you how research on the octopus’s brain could help us find answers to these questions. By comparing the structure and function of the octopus brain to the brains of other animals, we might even obtain clues about the workings of the human brain.

Integrated Brain and Body Exercises for ADHD and Related Problems with Attention and Executive Function

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce E. Wexler
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Elementary School Children ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Brain Training ◽  
Physical Exercises ◽  
Related Development ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Cognitive Strengths

This paper reviews the neuroscience foundation for understanding and harnessing neuroplastic processes that shape the structure and function of the human brain after birth, describes a newly developed, integrated series of computer presented and physical exercises to promote activity-related development of neurocognitive systems of attention and executive function in elementary school children, and reviews evidence of the efficacy of the program. The computer-presented brain exercises have new functionalities that more fully shape the training to each user’s individual profile of cognitive strengths and weaknesses than was previously possible. The programs also provide assessments of each child’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses based on built in formal tests of cognition and error analytic algorithms applied to 15-20,000 responses from each child while using the brain training program.

scholarly journals Deubiquitylating enzymes in neuronal health and disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Amer-Sarsour ◽  
Alina Kordonsky ◽  
Yevgeny Berdichevsky ◽  
Gali Prag ◽  
Avraham Ashkenazi
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
Protein Homeostasis ◽  
Neuronal Function ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
And Function

AbstractUbiquitylation and deubiquitylation play a pivotal role in protein homeostasis (proteostasis). Proteostasis shapes the proteome landscape in the human brain and its impairment is linked to neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Here we discuss the emerging roles of deubiquitylating enzymes in neuronal function and survival. We provide an updated perspective on the genetics, physiology, structure, and function of deubiquitylases in neuronal health and disease.

The role of GABAA receptor biogenesis, structure and function in epilepsy

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 863-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Mizielinska ◽  
S. Greenwood ◽  
C.N. Connolly
Keyword(s):  
Gabaa Receptor ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Inhibitory Synapses ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Synaptic Targeting ◽  
Acid Type ◽  
Normal Brain Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

Maintaining the correct balance in neuronal activation is of paramount importance to normal brain function. Imbalances due to changes in excitation or inhibition can lead to a variety of disorders ranging from the clinically extreme (e.g. epilepsy) to the more subtle (e.g. anxiety). In the brain, the most common inhibitory synapses are regulated by GABAA (γ-aminobutyric acid type A) receptors, a role commensurate with their importance as therapeutic targets. Remarkably, we still know relatively little about GABAA receptor biogenesis. Receptors are constructed as pentameric ion channels, with α and β subunits being the minimal requirement, and the incorporation of a γ subunit being necessary for benzodiazepine modulation and synaptic targeting. Insights have been provided by the discovery of several specific assembly signals within different GABAA receptor subunits. Moreover, a number of recent studies on GABAA receptor mutations associated with epilepsy have further enhanced our understanding of GABAA receptor biogenesis, structure and function.

Normal ageing and the brain

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-28
Author(s):  
CS Breathnach
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Ageing Population ◽  
Cell Shrinkage ◽  
Ageing Processes ◽  
Normal Ageing ◽  
And Function ◽  
Ageing Brain ◽  
The Brain

AbstractInterest in the psychiatric aspects of old age predated the institution of geriatrics as a clinical discipline, but the systematic study of the ageing brain only began in the second half of this century when an ageing population presented a global numerical challenge to society. In the senescent cerebral cortex, though the number of neurons is not reduced, cell shrinkage results in synaptic impoverishment with consequent cognitive impairment. Recent advances in imaging techniques, combined with burgeoning knowledge of neurobiological structure and function, have increased our understanding of the ageing processes in the human brain and permit an optimistic approach in the application of the newer insights into neuropsychology and geriatric psychiatry.

scholarly journals Culture Wires the Brain

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise C. Park ◽  
Chih-Mao Huang
Keyword(s):  
Brain Structure ◽  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Neural Function ◽  
Limited Evidence ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Cultural Experiences ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Brain

There is clear evidence that sustained experiences may affect both brain structure and function. Thus, it is quite reasonable to posit that sustained exposure to a set of cultural experiences and behavioral practices will affect neural structure and function. The burgeoning field of cultural psychology has often demonstrated the subtle differences in the way individuals process information—differences that appear to be a product of cultural experiences. We review evidence that the collectivistic and individualistic biases of East Asian and Western cultures, respectively, affect neural structure and function. We conclude that there is limited evidence that cultural experiences affect brain structure and considerably more evidence that neural function is affected by culture, particularly activations in ventral visual cortex—areas associated with perceptual processing.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document