Researchers have discovered a connection between brain regions that control movement and brain regions involved in thinking, planning, and involuntary bodily functions such as blood pressure and heart rate. It suggests a literal connection between body and mind. The researchers named this newly identified network the somatocognitive-behavioral network (SCAN). This study may help explain phenomena such as anxiety-induced pacing, the effects of vagus nerve stimulation on depression, and the positive outlook reported by regular exercise.
Findings point to brain regions that integrate planning, purpose, physiology, behavior, and movement.
A calm body, a calm mind, mindfulness practitioners say. A new study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that the idea that the body and mind are intimately intertwined is more than just an abstraction. Some indicate that they are connected to networks involved in thinking and planning, and controlling involuntary bodily functions such as blood pressure and heart rate. The findings reveal a literal connection between body and mind in the very structure of the brain.
A study published in the journal on April 19 Nature, which may help explain some puzzling phenomena, such as why anxiety makes some people want to walk back and forth. Why stimulating the vagus nerve, which regulates visceral functions such as digestion and heart rate, relieves depression. And why do people who exercise regularly report having a more positive outlook on life?
A new study by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that the connection between body and mind is hardwired into the structure of the brain. , are connected to networks involved in thinking and planning, and controlling involuntary bodily functions such as blood pressure and heart rate.Credit: Sara Moser/University of Washington
“People who meditate say that calming the body, such as breathing, calms the mind,” says lead author Evan M. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. . “This kind of practice is very helpful for people with anxiety, for example, but so far there isn’t much scientific evidence on how it works. found a connection: we found where the highly active, goal-oriented, “go, go, go” part of the mind connects to the part of the brain that controls breathing and heart rate. Soothing one should definitely have a feedback effect on the other. “
Gordon and lead author Nico Dosenbach, M.D., associate professor of neurology, did not attempt to answer age-old philosophical questions about the relationship between body and mind. Using , we set out to validate long-established maps of brain regions that control movement.
In the 1930s, neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield, MD, mapped the motor cortex of the brain by delivering small electrical shocks to the exposed brains of people undergoing brain surgery and noting their response. He found that stimulating thin strips of tissue in each half of the brain caused spasms in specific body parts. Furthermore, the control regions in the brain are arranged in the same order as the body parts they direct, with the toes on one end of each strip and the face on the other. Depicted as a homunculus, or “little man,” Penfield’s map of motor regions of the brain has become a staple in neuroscience textbooks.
Three colored spots in each half of the brain illuminate special areas of the brain’s motor regions, which connect to areas involved in thinking, planning, and controlling basic bodily functions such as heart rate. The darker the color, the tighter the connection. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis say these areas represent the body-mind connection.Credit: Evan Gordon/University of Washington
Gordon, Dosenbach, and colleagues set out to replicate Penfield’s study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). They recruited seven healthy adults to undergo fMRI brain scans for hours while they were resting or working.From this dense dataset, an individual brain map was created for each participant. Did. We then validated our results using three of his large publicly available fMRI datasets (Human Connectome Project, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, UK Biobank). These datasets contain brain scans of approximately 50,000 people.
To their surprise, they found that Penfield’s map was incorrect. Foot control was where Penfield identified. Same hands and face. However, another three of his regions that were interspersed with these three key areas did not appear to be directly involved in movement, despite being in motor regions of the brain.
Furthermore, the non-motor areas looked different than the motor areas. They appeared paler and were strongly connected to each other and to other parts of the brain involved in controlling internal organs and functions such as thinking, planning, mental alertness, pain, blood pressure and heart rate. When I went, I found that the motionless areas did not become active while I was in motion, but became active when I thought about moving.
The link between the body and the mind is embedded in the structure of our brain, and it influences physiology, movement and behavior, as shown in this artistic interpretation of new research by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. , expressed in thought. Researchers discovered what they termed the somato (body)-cognitive (mind) action network (SCAN).Credit: Sara Moser/University of Washington
“All these connections make sense when you consider what the brain is really for,” says Dosenbach. “The brain is about how you behave in your environment so that you can reach your goals without hurting or killing yourself. Pain is the most powerful feedback, isn’t it?You do something and it hurts and you say, ‘I won’t do that anymore.’ “I think.”
Dosenbach and Gordon named the newly identified network the Somato (body)-Cognitive (mind) Action Network, or SCAN.To understand how networks have developed and evolved, they
We scanned the brains of newborns, 1-year-olds, and 9-year-olds. They also analyzed previously collected data in nine monkeys. This network was undetectable in neonates, but was clearly evident at 1 year of age and almost adult-like at 9 years of age. Monkeys had smaller, more rudimentary systems without the extensive connections found in humans.
“This could have started as a simpler system to integrate exercise and physiology, for example, not to pass out when standing up,” Gordon said. “But as we evolved into more complex thinking and planning organisms, our systems were upgraded to incorporate highly complex cognitive components.”
Clues to the existence of mind-body networks have been around for a long time, littered with isolated papers and cryptic observations.
“Penfield was brilliant, his ideas were dominant for 90 years and created a blind spot in the field,” says Biomedical Engineering, Pediatrics, Occupational Therapy, Radiology, and Psychology and Brain Science. “Once we started researching, we found a lot of public data that did not quite match his thinking, as well as alternative interpretations that had been ignored. and gave me a new way of thinking about how the body and mind are connected.”
See: “Somatocognitive Networks Alternate with Effector Regions in the Motor Cortex,” Evan M. Gordon, Roselyn J. Chauvin, Andrew N. Vann, Aishwarya Rajesh, Ashley Nielsen, Dylan J. Newbold, Charles J. Lynch, Nicole A. Seider, Samuel R. Krimmel, Kristen M. Scheidter, Julia Monk, Ryland L. Miller, Athanasia Metoki, David F. Montez, Annie Zheng, Immanuel Elbau, Thomas Madison, Tomoyuki Nishino, Michael J. Myers , Sydney Kaplan, Carolina Badke D’Andrea, Damion V. Demeter, Matthew Feigelis, Julian S.B. Zimmerman, Kelly N. Boteron, John R. Pruett, John T. Willie, Peter Brunner, Joshua S. Simonyi, Benjamin P. Kay, Scott Malek, Scott A. Norris, Caterina Gratton, Chad M. Sylvester, Jonathan D. Power, Connor Liston, Deanna J. Green, Jarrod L. Rowland, Steven E. Petersen, Marcus E. Raichle, Timothy O. Laumann, Damien A. Fair, Nico UF Dosenbach , 19 April 2023, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05964-2
Gordon EM, Chauvin RJ, Van AN, Rajesh A, Nielsen A, Newbold DJ, Lynch CJ, Sader NA, Krimmer SR, Scheider KM, Monk J, Miller RL, Metki A, Montes DF, Chen A, Erbau I, Madison T, Nishino T, Myers MJ, Kaplan S, Badke Dandrea C, Demeter DV, Feigelis M, Ramirez JSB, Shue T, Birch DM, Smizer CD, Rogers CE, Zimmermann J, Botteron KN, Pruett JR, Willie JT, Brunner P, Simony JS, Kay BP, Marek S, Norris SA, Gratton C, Sylvester CM, Power JD, Liston C, Green DJ, Roland JL, Petersen SE, Reichl ME, Laumann TO, Fair DA, Dosenbach NUF. Somatocognitive-behavioral networks alternate with effector regions in the motor cortex. Nature. April 19, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05964-2
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers NS110332, MH120989, MH100019, MH129493, MH113883, MH128177, EB031765, DA048742, MH120194, NS123345, NS098482, MH1215219. MH118370, MH118362, HD088125, HD055741, MH121462, MH116961, MH129426, HD103525, MH120194, MH122389, DA047851, MH118388, MH114976, MH129616, DA0457, MH1338, DA041112 2 MH09 21276, MH124567, NS129521, and NS088590; US National Science Foundation, CAREER grant number BCS-2048066. Eagles Autism Challenge; Dystonia Medical Research Foundation; National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association; Taylor Family Foundation; Center for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research at the University of Washington. Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, University of Washington. University of Washington Mallinckrodt Radiation Laboratory.
