Medicine prides itself to be a science, and one of the ‘hard sciences’ at that. As a science, medicine strives to be as accurate as classical physics and chemistry. Its object is the study, analysis and manipulation of the human body at different levels of organization for the purpose of maintaining or re-establishing the body’s proper function. From this point of view, all that ever happens is objectively provable, because it follows certain rules. Molecules, chemical compounds, fluids, tissues, organs including the brain, which governs all these functions are working according to rules that, once established, do NOT change – or DO they?
Unfortunately for ‘traditional’ medical science, they actually DO. And who says so? Not a group of New Age or religious freaks, but leading edge brain scientists the world over. One of them is Professor Gerald Huether of the University of Goettingen, in Germany. Huether is well known among brain scientists, the author of over 150 papers on experimental brain research and recently, of a handful popular books, one of which, The Compassionate Brain, was translated and published in the English language.
What he and many of his colleagues have to say also impacts medicine, as from a strictly scientific point of view it clearly demonstrates that action and in particular social interaction are as vital especially for maintaining good health as the consumption of medicines, or undergoing surgical procedures. Naturally, action and social interaction also play an important role in re-establishing it. Psychosomatic medicine has proven this particular point many times over through extensive research, in the course of the last thirty odd years. But now we have additional confirmation through brain research, which likewise points to the undeniable malleability of what previously were considered purely physical aspects, through feelings and emotions, and the actions that these feelings and emotions engender.
In his introduction to the book The Compassionate Brain, Huether summarizes some of the discoveries of modern brain research in 5 key points, all of which have bearing on the way medicine should be practiced in order for it to be effective:
- “For decades the presumption was that the neuronal pathways and synaptic connections established during the brain’s initial development were immutable. Today we know that the brain is capable throughout our lifetimes of adaptively modifying and reorganizing the connective pathways that it has laid down, and that the development and consolidation of these pathways depends in quite a major way in how we use our brain and what for.”
- “A few years ago, no researcher in the field of brain science could have conceived of the possibility that what we experience could be capable of changing the structure of our brain in any way. Today most scientists who study the brain are convinced that the experiences of our lives do become structurally anchored in our brain.”
- “Until quite recently, it was held to be self-evident that human beings have a big brain to make it possible for them to think. However, the research results of the last years have made it clear that the structure and function of the human brain is especially optimized for tasks that we would subsume under the heading of ‘psychosocial competence’. Our brain is thus more a social organ than it is a thinking organ.”
- “As recently as a few years ago, everything that had anything to do with feelings and emotions appeared suspect to brain researchers. But lately they have begun to understand how important feelings and emotions are, not only in orienting perceptual and thinking processes, but also for the way in which early experiences become anchored in the brain. Thus the great role feelings play in determining our later basic attitudes and convictions has become clear.”
Naturally, these points have a greater impact on HOW medicine is practiced, rather than on what kind of medicine is practiced. But then, indirectly, the HOW of what you do will eventually influence WHAT you do. This is inevitable.
For example, once you fully understand that experiences become structurally anchored in the brain, you will refrain from submitting others to traumatizing experiences; or at least, you will make an effort to cushion potentially traumatizing experiences, by fully explaining why they might be necessary and how they can be of benefit. In short, as a doctor you will become more human and acknowledge your patients’ humanity. Which is a great thing in itself and a great shift, away from mechanization and standardization in modern medicine – even if you continue to use standardized protocols.