Psychotherapy, consciousness, and brain plasticity
Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00548 (opens in new tab) via DOAJ
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Neuroplasticity |
| Keywords | Consciousness Psychotherapy Emotion Plasticity Multivoxel pattern analysis |
| Key findings | Psychotherapy produces lasting changes in brain function localized to frontal, cingulate, and limbic circuits, and Multivoxel Pattern Analysis may distinguish between different states of consciousness. |
Abstract
Purely psychological treatments for emotional distress produce lasting, measureable, and reproducible changes in cognitive and emotional consciousness and brain function. How these changes come about illustrates the interplay between brain and consciousness. Studies of the effects of psychotherapy highlight the holistic nature of consciousness. Pre and post treatment functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging localises the brain changes following psychotherapy to frontal, cingulate, and limbic circuits, but emphasise that these areas support a wide range of conscious experiences. Multivoxel Pattern Analysis of distributed changes in function across these brain areas may be able to provide the ability to distinguish between different states of consciousness.