The Healing Brain: A Scientific Reader

by Robert Ornstein (Editor), Charles Swencionis (Editor)

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.

Genres: Science, Health, Psychology, Neuroscience

262 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Psychologist Robert Ornstein's wide-ranging and multidisciplinary work has won him awards from more than a dozen organizations, including the American Psychological Association and UNESCO. His pioneering research on the bilateral specialization of the brain has done much to advance our understanding of how we think.

He received his bachelor's degree in psychology from City University of New York in 1964 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University in 1968. His doctoral thesis won the American Institutes for Research Creative Talent Award and was published immediately as a book, On the Experience of Time.

Since then he has written or co-written more than twenty other books on the nature of the human mind and brain and their relationship to thought, health and individual and social consciousness, which have sold over six million copies and been translated into a dozen other languages. His textbooks have been used in more than 20,000 university classes.

Dr. Ornstein has taught at the University of California Medical Center and Stanford University, and he has lectured at more than 200 colleges and universities in the U.S. and overseas. He is the president and founder of the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), an educational nonprofit dedicated to bringing important discoveries concerning human nature to the general public.

Among his many honors and awards are the UNESCO award for Best Contribution to Psychology and the American Psychological Foundation Media Award "for increasing the public understanding of psychology."

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, despite my avoiding it for months due to the boring (yet important) chapter that I got stuck on. This is by far that best thing I've found to convince left-brained science-types of the importance of the mind in the healing of the body. It's amazing how much we know, and have known for quite a while, but these ideas have somehow been overshadowed in the mainstream by an attitude dismissing them in favor of biochemical mechanisms and a pill-and-surgery approach. The present me is appalled by the me who hadn't yet read this book, how I could possibly doubt or overlook the importance of these factors. Oh to dream of living in more enlightened times. Back to the real world living in the dark ages. If you're already convinced of the mindbody connection and prefer an entertaining read with interesting anecdotes and inspiration along with your facts (like I do), this isn't the book for you. Each chapter has a different author, so some are better than others, but some read more like a dissertation than a chapter written for lay people. If you're one who is inclined to respect the facts more if they're laid out in textbook or journal fashion, then this is for you. (Note: I may be overstating the dryness of the book based on the last 2 chapters since it's been a while since I read the first 230 pages.)

[Judith Praag · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this is not necessarily a book on grief and healing, this is one of the books that brought solace during period of grief and mourning after my baby had died at birth in 1993. The author's scientific approach acknowledged my idea that I could play a role in how I felt.

[Rick]

very good