our new understandings regarding the connections of the immune system, the microbiome, and the endocrine system to "Mental Illness"
making sense of an enormous amount of confusing data
|
Val's Take It's not that the brain isn't important, but it is NOT the whole story. The brain is part of a complicated array of bodily systems that are regulating our behavior. It is the interplay of all of those systems that ultimately produces the behavior, and most of that is not within our conscious awareness. As for "Intent" -- it can be manipulated by manipulating the microbiome, the immune system, the endocrine system, the brain. Microbiome There are references to European doctors and researchers in the 1800s discovering the "intestinal microbiome," but other history of science folks put the real effort on the microbiome starting in 2001. That's within the last 20 years. It is pretty hard to see how one is going to have an accurate understanding of "mental illness" without understanding the microbiome. In just the last 20 years, the knowledge has exploded. This is eating your fruits and vegetables BUT it's a lot more than that, and our Society does a lot of harm by failing to recognize that. |
Stress and the commensal microbiota: importance in parturition and infant neurodevelopment (2015)
This review discusses emerging evidence that the microbiota can impact the brain and behavior and indicates that stressor-induced alterations in the composition of gut microbial communities contribute to stressor-induced behavioral changes. This review will also discuss the evidence that such effects are most evident early in life, where both stress and the microbiota have been linked to birth outcomes, such as prematurity, and neurodevelopment. When considered together, a paradigm emerges in which stressor-induced alterations in commensal microbial populations significantly impact parturition and infant neurodevelopment. |
|
Immune System
Understanding the HUGE importance of the IMMUNE SYSTEM to Mental & Behavioral Health --- is a BIG GAME CHANGER. When we talk about an enormous amount of confusing data, a lot of that data is not confusing once we understand the role of the IMMUNE SYSTEM. Further Neuroscientist Jonathan Kipnis' conceptualization of the IMMUNE SYSTEM as a 7th Sense is helpful as well. We already know that there are a lot of things that effect the immune system. Further, we already know that "Trauma" and "Stress" impact the IMMUNE SYSTEM as well as allergens (people with allergies have a higher incidence of mental illness). It has been very hard for people to recognize the BROAD ARRAY of FACTORS leading to Mental Illness. Once we recognize the large role of the IMMUNE SYSTEM in "Mental Illness" --- it shouldn't be as hard. Additionally, many people may have started out with the impacts of some kind of Maternal Immune Activation --- BUT there may have been CUMULATIVE DAMAGE to the IMMUNE SYSTEM and ultimately the brain from a WIDE VARIETY of FACTORS. LISTEN UP COLORADO: Colorado has an incredibly high suicide rate. Surrounding Mountain states such as Utah and Wyoming have recognized ALTITUDE as a FACTOR in mental health problems in their states. Colorado has been pretty stubbornly resistant to do that. Anecdotally, I did visit a person with serious mental illness charged with murder in the Denver jail who was desperately trying to get his C-PAP machine. Now does that prove very much -- NO -- BUT --Once one recognizes the IMMUNE SYSTEM as the important player in mental illness and behavior ---
Impacting the IMMUNE SYSTEM --- is very likely to impact MENTAL HEALTH. Social behavior is currently conceptualized by some researchers as a delicate balance of innate and adaptive immunity --- for some people it may take a lot less than for others to put them over a behavioral edge. |
Haukland University Hospital in Norway
Constructing the Immune Signature of Schizophrenia for Clinical Use and Research; An Integrative Review Translating Descriptives Into Diagnostics (2019) 1Psychiatric Division, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway 2Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway 3Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway 4Department of Neuroscience and Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands 5Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway 6Department of Clinical Science, Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway 7Dr. E. Martens Research Group of Biological Psychiatry, Department of Medical Genetics, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway 8Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Oslo University Hospital and University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway 9Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Acute Psychiatric Department, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway 10Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway |
|
The Endocrine System
One of the things that is interesting is HUGE IMPACT that PREGNANCY has on all of us and our DEVELOPMENT. We are generally in our society looking for someone to BLAME ---
All of this SCIENCE does bring us to a classically religious perspective: WHO AM I TO JUDGE? BUT all of this SCIENCE also indicates that ultimately we will have control over our most difficult mental and behavioral problems. In the meantime, we need A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE. |
"Hormones and Behavior" is the Official Journal of the Society of Behavioral Endocrinology
Frank Beach Award Winner - The future of mental health research: Examining the interactions of the immune, endocrine and nervous systems between mother and infant and how they affect mental health (2019) |