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Dr. Bernard Beitman, chair of the Department of Psychiatry,
says deficits in self-awareness are seen in nearly all psychiatric
disorders. He and other MU experts hope their new book will
help clinicians and caregivers understand how the brain
shapes and maintains our sense of who we are. Photo
courtesy of University of Missouri Health Care
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Shaping
the Brain
By Mary Jenkins
An autistic child, an alcoholic adult, a woman
with an eating disorder, a schizophrenic college student — all of these people with psychiatric disorders share a lack of
self-awareness of their problems.
Advances in knowledge of the brain and technology for brain imaging,
however, are enabling researchers to better understand the neurological
basis of self-awareness.
“By knowing more about the way the brain supports our patients’
abilities to observe themselves, we can help them change the way
they think about themselves and their relationships and help them
function more effectively,” said Dr. Bernard Beitman, chair
of the Department of Psychiatry in the MU School of
Medicine.
Beitman is the editor — with Dr. Jyotsna Nair, assistant
professor of psychiatry at MU — of Self-Awareness Deficits
in Psychiatric Patients. The book was published in February
by W.W. Norton & Company.
Several other MU faculty members wrote chapters in the book. They
include Dr. Richard Burch, assistant professor of psychiatry;
Amee Jo Epler, graduate student; Dr. Kenneth Sher, the Paul W.
Penningroth Professor and chair of the Department
of Psychological Sciences; Dr. James Slaughter, associate
professor of family and
community medicine; and Dr. George Viamontes, assistant professor
of psychiatry.
“This book is designed to help clinicians and caregivers
understand how the brain shapes and maintains our sense of who
we are,” Beitman said. “Deficits in self-awareness
are seen in nearly all psychiatric disorders. By studying malfunctions
of self-awareness, we can shed light on normal brain functions,
also.”
Chapters in the book focus on topics including neural circuits
for self-awareness and their evolutionary origins; brain patterns
of self-awareness; self-awareness in patients with schizophrenia,
autism, borderline personality disorder, attention deficit and
hyperactivity disorder and conversion disorders such as hysterical
paralysis; alcoholic denial and denial of illness following stroke.
"Human beings have innately resilient and adaptable brains
that have allowed us to adapt to thousands of years of ever-changing
ecological conditions,” Beitman said. "Our capacity
for self-awareness has given us a sense of our history’s
meaning, the implications of our present and the prospects for
our future.
"Like all psychological functions, the human ability to step
back and observe oneself and to know the inner workings of another’s
mind requires some formatting within the brain,” he said.
“By defining those parts of the brain that serve as the
instruments of self-awareness, we may be able to expand the brain’s
capacity and abilities.”
A very practical consequence of the research, Beitman said, may
be advances in treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders
that often have tragic and long-lasting consequences for the patients
and their families.
Note: This story was published originally in the April/May 2005
issue of Archives, a publication for University of Missouri
Health Care staff members.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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