“What has neuroscience done for you lately? It’s future role in translational psychosomatic science.”
In recent years major advances have been made in our understanding of brain-body interactions that are highly relevant to psychosomatic science. These advances, captured by the term “computational neuroscience,” are both theoretically rich and quantitatively precise, but also challenging to understand. The purpose of this webinar is to explain some of its basic principles and then show their relevance for psychosomatic science. This webinar is intended specifically for psychosomatic researchers and clinicians who are not neuroscientists. It will include four parts: 1) a brief introductory primer on basic concepts in computational neuroscience; 2) an example of state of the art research in this area addressing the role of expectations (and their violation) in the perceptions of normal and restricted breathing and their neural substrates; 3) an intervention to reduce anxiety consisting of training that enhances the accuracy of interoceptive sensory perception; and 4) a strategy for introducing a computational approach to psychosomatic research in an area in which it has not yet been incorporated, illustrated by the example of perceived racism and hypertension. An overarching goal is to demonstrate how computational neuroscience provides a systematic framework for converting between-subject observations into mechanisms that can be addressed by actionable clinical interventions specific to individual patients.
Confirmed Speakers
Chair:
Richard Lane, M.D., Ph.D. (Tucson, AZ)
Presenters:
Elizabeth Brondolo, Ph.D. (New York, NY)
Sarah Garfinkel, Ph.D. (London, UK)
Olivia Faull Harrison, Ph.D. (Otago, NZ)
Ryan Smith, Ph.D. (Tulsa, OK)
Cheryl Woods-Giscombé, Ph.D., R.N. (Chapel Hill, NC)
Discussant:
Hugo Critchley, D.Phil., M.B.B.S. (Brighton, UK)