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Chapter 5⁵

Psychosomatic Relations: From Superstition to Mortality

People have many sources of information, knowledge and

⁵ The lead author is Gary G. Berntson, Ph.D., a Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Pediatrics and a member of the Neurosciences Graduate Faculty at the Ohio State University. He is a co-founder (with John Cacioppo) of the field of social neuroscience, is a co-editor of the Handbook of Psychophysiology and the Handbook of Neuroscience for the Behavioral Sciences, and is the President of the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Berntson’s research focuses on the evolutionary development of the neuraxis, with special regard to levels of organization in neurobehavioral systems, affective processes and autonomic regulation. He has published over 200 articles in scientific outlets and six books.

Berntson begins with the fact that knowledge, thoughts and beliefs can influence our behaviors. Behaviors, of course, are physiological processes entailing neural operations and muscular actions. Here we see a clear intersection between the psychological domain on the one hand (knowledge, thoughts and beliefs) and the physical domain (neuromuscular effector systems) on the other. But mind-body relations extend beyond the observable actions or skeletal muscles. The mind and its organ, the brain, also impact powerfully on internal bodily functions associated with the autonomic nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system, to name just a few. Through these interactions, psychological processes can be translated in outcomes that have powerful significance for adaptation and health. Berntson explores the processes by which thoughts can manifest in fundamental changes in internal physiology and health.

understanding. We consider the most common of these to be empirically acquired, learned facts, relations, associations, and perceptual and motor skills. Such learned associations serve as powerful determinants of thought and behavior. But other sources of information and knowledge also affect our interaction with the environment, including reflex-like (constitutionally endowed) circuits that are independent of explicit learning. Examples include central networks for pain withdrawal, hunger circuits for the ingestion of essential nutrients, social affiliation networks, and neural systems that promote maternal bonding. Each of these sources of information or knowledge can impact thoughts and beliefs, and thoughts and beliefs can impact behaviors and other bodily functions.

“...a Maori woman who, having eaten some fruit, was told that it had been taken
from a tabooed place; she exclaimed that the sanctity of the chief had been profaned
and that his spirit would kill her ... the next day ... she was dead.”(1)

“I have seen a strong young man die .... the same day he was tapued
(tabooed); the victims die under it as though their strength ran out as water. . .”(1)

A superstition is a belief, based not on reason or knowledge, but on legend, magical thinking, or other non-rational basis. Beliefs color the way we perceive the world, they direct and shape our actions, and define our personalities. Beliefs are powerful determinants of action. A useful illustration of the power of beliefs comes from the parable of the

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