Dr Michael Gaebler | The Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions (LEMON) – pt. 1: interactions between the cardiovascular system and the central nervous system

Somatic and mental health depends on interactions between the brain and the rest of the body. In medicine, psychological changes after physical or somatic illness, such as depressive symptoms after stroke (House, 1987), have long been reported but mental factors contributing to bodily diseases receive little scientific recognition. For example, psychological stress has negative influences on somatic and mental health (Chrousos & Gold, 1992) and emotional episodes like depressive symptoms have been identified as a risk factor for stroke (Bruce & Mussolino, 2000).

We assume that psychological factors play a key role in the pathogenesis, manifestation, and treatment of somatic diseases. In younger and older healthy adults, the “Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions” (LEMON) investigates the interplay of brain, body, and psychological features as they are hypothesized to contribute to vascular risk factors and pathology. While focusing on brain structure and brain function, LEMON is designed to evaluate bodily measures (such as hormonal and cardiovascular parameters - especially blood pressure and heart rate), psycho-physiological stress markers, as well as lifestyle factors (e.g., eating-related behaviour) associated with anthropometric measures and – potentially – with obesity.

After a general introduction to LEMON, Lina Schaare will present “neuroanatomical correlates of resting blood pressure variations in young adults” and Deniz Kumral will show that “age-related differences in resting heart rate variability are associated with functional connectivity in the resting brain but not with brain structure”.

Poster