Detection

Working Toward Prevention - Early Detection and Prompt Intervention

With developments in neuroscience and the ability to image the

living brain, MIPC can work towards the early detection of pathophysiology and conduct prompt intervention.

Approximately 150 years ago, the French mathematician, philosopher, and (amateur) physician Rene Descartes made an arbitrary distinction between the body and the soul. PHysicians have continued this error by often asking the wrong question: is it physical or mental?

It is intuitively obvious that mental function derives from biology. In the absence of a nervous system, there is no mental functioning. In the absence of mental functionin, there can be no aberration. A stone does not develop mental problems.

The continuation of this false distinction has been a major problem. A derivative misunderstanding has been that "physical" problems must be approached biologically while "mental" problems must be approached psychologically. This is nonsens!

Experience reshapes the nervous system throughout life. Medication can also reshape the nervous system during life. Whether the instrument of change is a learning experience or a drug, the change is reflected in functional and/or structural changes in the nervous system. The reshaping of behavior requires the reshaping of the function and structure of the nervous system. One of the missions of MIPC is the further development of behavior-shaping tools: mechanical, pharmaceutical, and experiential.