Mike Palij wriote, "I'm having a hard time understanding Ed's post. Perhaps he is saying "Hey, the movement/muscle disorder either it has a neurological basis in the brain or it is psychological based (i.e., psychogenic) and that's too is in brain! It's all in the brain!" Which is a pretty trivial point and misses, well, the point. Perhaps Ed doesn't know what psychogenic illnesses are (e.g., as described here: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/psychogenic_movement/psychogenic_movement.htm ) that is, disorders that manifest themselves in some physical manner, such a abnormal movement or blindness or pain or fatigue and so on without any obvious organic or physical basis. If there is no organic basis, then either a psychological explanation or malingering might be considered. These types of "functional" disorders are often stigmatized by both the medical community (because there is no objective basis for the disorder) and the public (who think that the person is just faking it for some sort of secondary gain). The point of the research being reported is that movement disorders that have a genetic (i.e., known organic) basis and psychogenic basis have brain activity that is different from normal people just "faking". If this is trivial, I'd like to know why."
1) I don't think it's at all trivial to acjknowledge that all behavior is rooted in brain activity. Witness the number of unapologetic dualists publishing at a prolific rate and by the use of terms like "psychogenic." 2) I had thought that the entire notion of functional vs. organic illness was long defunct. Defining an illness as "functional" (i.e., not organic) simply because you don't know the biological basis is, IMO, patently absurd. When I was an undergraduate, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc., etc., were all considered "functional" disorders. Only things like Korsakoff's syndrome or general paresis were trotted out as examples of disorders with an "organic basis." The organic causes of "functional" or "psychogenic" disorders may be less obvious but they are there. (And just for the record, I was making fun of the headline in the popular press and not of the research in question.) Ed Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Psychology West Chester University of Pennsylvania http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/ Husband, father, grandfather, bluegrass fiddler, banjoist & biopsychologist............... in approximate order of importance --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=23989 or send a blank email to leave-23989-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
