The RELATIONS BETWEEN PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
On the basis of what we have said, one might conclude that psychology and
psychiatry exist as disciplines simply because of our current ignorance of the
neurological basis of some disorders and that further advances in neurosciences would ultimately move all the phenomena of abnormal psychology into the domain of neurology.
This is not the case, just as all problems of
computers cannot be traced to defects in the hardware. One can arrange
disorders of behavior and the mind in terms of the extent to which they can be
explained as diseases of the nervous system. At one extreme are diseases
that are totally accounted for in terms of pathology of structure and function.
For example, because of the very orderly way in which nerve fibers
going from each point in the retina arrange themselves in the brain, small
lesions in the back of the cerebral cortex produce specific "blind spots."
More general disorders can also be explained in terms of a specific pathology.
For example, low levels of calcium in the body, perhaps produced by a
disorder of the parathyroid gland, lower the sensitivity of nerves and muscles,
and cause widespread cramps.
In most cases that come to the attention of neurologists, the linkage between
pathology of the nervous system and the disorder is weaker. That is,
we know of the relation between damage to a certain part of the brain and a
symptom, but we don't understand why this particular lesion causes these
symptoms. Accurate diagnosis of the site of the lesion can be made, but understanding
is minimal.
For example, brain damage (usually to the right
parietal area, sometimes leads to the phenomenon of unilateral
(one-sided) neglect (Mesulam, 1991). Patients with such brain damage
neglect the half of their body and the space in front of them that are on
the opposite side from the site of brain damage. When dressing, they fail to
put the hand from the neglected side into its shirt sleeve, or the leg into the
pants. When writing, they may only use one side of the page, and when
copying a figure, they may omit the part on the neglected side.
Though there is a reasonably well-established anatomical relation between
damage and symptoms, we do not fully understand why this brain damage
produces these symptoms (Mesulam, 2006).
Moving further from clear nervous system-disease linkages, we come to
psychopathological syndromes where there are suggestions of a biological
explanation, and where a well-articulated neurological explanation may be
developed in the future. For example, some investigators have proposed
that schizophrenia results from abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine
in parts of the brain.
Were we to stop here, we would confirm the view that all disorders would
ultimately fall into the domain of the neurologist. But many psychological
disorders are not diseases of the nervous system; rather they result from experience,
the interaction of individual and culture. A horse phobia, though
represented in the nervous system (perhaps as a pattern of connections in
some neural circuits) should not be called a pathology of the nervous system.
It is a record of experience (software) in the nervous system, and it
qualifies as pathology only because fear of horses (as opposed to snakes) is
considered bizarre in our culture.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com
On the basis of what we have said, one might conclude that psychology and
psychiatry exist as disciplines simply because of our current ignorance of the
neurological basis of some disorders and that further advances in neurosciences would ultimately move all the phenomena of abnormal psychology into the domain of neurology.
This is not the case, just as all problems of
computers cannot be traced to defects in the hardware. One can arrange
disorders of behavior and the mind in terms of the extent to which they can be
explained as diseases of the nervous system. At one extreme are diseases
that are totally accounted for in terms of pathology of structure and function.
For example, because of the very orderly way in which nerve fibers
going from each point in the retina arrange themselves in the brain, small
lesions in the back of the cerebral cortex produce specific "blind spots."
More general disorders can also be explained in terms of a specific pathology.
For example, low levels of calcium in the body, perhaps produced by a
disorder of the parathyroid gland, lower the sensitivity of nerves and muscles,
and cause widespread cramps.
In most cases that come to the attention of neurologists, the linkage between
pathology of the nervous system and the disorder is weaker. That is,
we know of the relation between damage to a certain part of the brain and a
symptom, but we don't understand why this particular lesion causes these
symptoms. Accurate diagnosis of the site of the lesion can be made, but understanding
is minimal.
For example, brain damage (usually to the right
parietal area, sometimes leads to the phenomenon of unilateral
(one-sided) neglect (Mesulam, 1991). Patients with such brain damage
neglect the half of their body and the space in front of them that are on
the opposite side from the site of brain damage. When dressing, they fail to
put the hand from the neglected side into its shirt sleeve, or the leg into the
pants. When writing, they may only use one side of the page, and when
copying a figure, they may omit the part on the neglected side.
Though there is a reasonably well-established anatomical relation between
damage and symptoms, we do not fully understand why this brain damage
produces these symptoms (Mesulam, 2006).
Moving further from clear nervous system-disease linkages, we come to
psychopathological syndromes where there are suggestions of a biological
explanation, and where a well-articulated neurological explanation may be
developed in the future. For example, some investigators have proposed
that schizophrenia results from abnormal levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine
in parts of the brain.
Were we to stop here, we would confirm the view that all disorders would
ultimately fall into the domain of the neurologist. But many psychological
disorders are not diseases of the nervous system; rather they result from experience,
the interaction of individual and culture. A horse phobia, though
represented in the nervous system (perhaps as a pattern of connections in
some neural circuits) should not be called a pathology of the nervous system.
It is a record of experience (software) in the nervous system, and it
qualifies as pathology only because fear of horses (as opposed to snakes) is
considered bizarre in our culture.
For the Treatment I recommend click this link:
http://theliberatormethod.com