New Books in Neuroscience

Camilla Nord, "The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health" (Princeton UP, 2024)

Jan 15, 2025

Camilla Nord, a neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge and leader of the Mental Health Neuroscience Lab, dives into the science of mental health. She discusses how our brains strive for balance amidst life's chaos and how different interventions, from antidepressants to simple mood-lifting activities, work at a neurological level. Nord explores the connection between physical and mental health, the surprising power of belief, and innovative treatments like non-invasive electrical stimulation. Her insights redefine how we approach mental well-being.

39:22

Episode guests

Camilla Nord

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Quick takeaways

Understanding the biological mechanisms behind mental health issues can help dismantle stigma and promote integrated treatment approaches that combine psychological and biological methods.

The interplay between physical sensations, like pain and pleasure, illustrates the complex feedback loop that reinforces the need for a holistic perspective in mental health treatment.

Deep dives

The Intersection of Biology and Mental Health

Mental health issues are deeply rooted in biological processes, which is often overlooked in societal discussions. The author emphasizes how conditions like depression share common neurological underpinnings with diseases such as Parkinson’s, challenging the notion that mental health exists in isolation. This biological perspective is crucial in dismantling the stigma associated with mental illnesses, which tend to be treated less seriously than physical health conditions. By recognizing the biological basis of mental health, a more integrated approach to treatment can be developed that embraces both psychological and biological therapies.

Intro

2min

Interconnected Minds: Mental Health and Biology

18min

The Impact of Belief on Physical Health

2min

Unveiling the Nocebo Effect and Antidepressants

7min

Exploring Non-Invasive Electrical Stimulation for Mental Health

3min

Enhancing Mental Health Through Exercise

5min

There are many routes to mental well-being. In this groundbreaking book, neuroscientist Camilla Nord offers a fascinating tour of the scientific developments that are revolutionising the way we think about mental health, showing why and how events--and treatments--can affect people in such different ways.

In The Balanced Brain: The Science of Mental Health (Princeton UP, 2024), Nord explains how our brain constructs our sense of mental health--actively striving to maintain balance in response to our changing circumstances. While a mentally healthy brain deals well with life's turbulence, poor mental health results when the brain struggles with disruption. But just what is the brain trying to balance? Nord describes the foundations of mental health in the brain--from the neurobiology of pleasure, pain and desire to the role of mood-mediating chemicals like dopamine, serotonin and opioids. She then pivots to interventions, revealing how antidepressants, placebos and even recreational drugs work; how psychotherapy changes brain chemistry; and how the brain and body interact to make us feel physically (as well as mentally) healthy. Along the way, Nord explains how the seemingly small things we use to lift our moods--a piece of chocolate, a walk, a chat with a friend--work on the same pathways in our brains as the latest treatments for mental health disorders.

Understanding the cause of poor mental health is one of the crucial questions of our time. But the answer is unique to each of us, and it requires finding what helps our brains rebalance and thrive. With so many factors at play, there are more possibilities for recovery and resilience than we might think.

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