The mind-body link – How our psychology and physiology are interconnected

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The mind-body link – How our psychology and physiology are interconnected

    • Author Name
      Khaleel Haji
    • Author Twitter Handle
      @TheBldBrnBar

    Full story (ONLY use the 'Paste From Word' button to safely copy and paste text from a Word doc)

    New advances in technology accelerate our awareness about the world around and within us. Whether on the micro or macro level, these advances give insight into varying realms of possibility and wonder. 

    The specifics regarding the link between our mind and body is somewhat of a mystery amongst the general populace. Where some people identify our psychology and physiology as being two separate entities without a second thought, others feel differently. Whether through a pursuit of information, anecdotal or factual, many see our minds and bodies as being hyper-connected and very much a product of each other. 

    The Facts 

    Recently, further developments have been made in our knowledge of the mind/body connection, more specifically how our mind states affect our organs and bodily functions. The results, provided by The University of Pittsburgh, have increased our awareness regarding the matter, with isolated experiments showing how the cerebral cortex is cognitively and neurologically linked with specific organs; in this case the adrenal medulla, an organ that responds to stress.

    The findings in this study show that there are cortical regions in the brain that directly control the response from the adrenal medulla. The more regions of the brain that have neural pathways to the medulla, the more tailored the stress response is via physiological reactions such as sweating and heavy breathing. This tailored response is based on the cognitive image we have in our minds, and how our minds address that image the way it sees fit.  

    What It Means for the Future 

    What this tells us is that our cognition is not just simply how our brains are operating. It reveals how our brains are operating and to what capacity they are serving the vital parts of our body. It is well known that those who meditate, practice yoga, and exercise have more grey matter in their brain, which is pivotal to mitigating stress, anxiety, and depression. Dreams can be so real and vivid, and create physiological reactions like sweating and an increased heart rate.

    Books like “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie have depicted evidence on how worry wreaks havoc and can cripple our health if it goes unchecked. Psychosomosis treatment is very prevalent in modern medicine where the placebo and nocebo effect have high usage rates as well as rates of success.  All further evidence that our mind constructs and states are very powerful in spurring physiological reactions whether positive or negative. 

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