Demystifying The Mind-Body Connection: The Neuroscience Behind How Thoughts Impact Physical Health

The beliefs, emotions, and experiences that constitute a mindset shape numerous aspects of one’s reality, but in particular, health. Health is defined by not only the physical state of one’s body, but also the content of one’s mind. The integration of the mind and body is often associated with naturopathic medicines or pseudoscience, and thus is usually left out of Western medicinal practices. This review aims to demystify the mind-body connection in health and wellness by introducing it within an empirical, neuroscientific landscape. This research supports the hypothesis that mind over matter rings true even at the biochemical level. Activation of the immune system and the autonomic nervous system as well as changes in gene expression and connections between neurons, among many other things, modulate the body’s physical responses to mindsets. Concepts like stress, somatization, mind-body therapies, and the placebo effect are discussed in relation to their neuroscientific mechanisms and resulting effects on bodily health. This review finds that many of these concepts share overlapping biochemical mechanisms that turn positive thoughts into healthier bodies, and vice versa; this research elevates the status of mindsets as powerful determinants of health that should be more heavily prioritized in Western medicine

Vegetation coverage change in the EU: patterns inside and outside Natura 2000 protected areas

EU conservation policy is primarily based on the Natura 2000 network of protected areas (PAs). We analyzed the land-cover changes between 2000 and 2006 inside 25,703 Natura 2000 sites in 24 EU Member States, and compared them with those observed outside the PAs. At the EU level, ‘Artificial surfaces’ and ‘Agricultural areas’ exhibit lower rates of transformation within PAs than outside. ‘Forests and semi-natural areas’ marginally increased inside PAs, while they marginally decreased outside. In States that joined the EU before 2000, landscape transformation rates were low, and inside PAs ‘Forest’ preservation was accompanied with a shift from intensive agricultural practices ‘Permanent arable land’ to more diverse ‘Agricultural mosaics’. In new Member States (most of them located in Eastern Europe), there was agricultural abandonment, with conversion to ‘Artificial surfaces’ or ‘Natural vegetation’, both within and outside PAs. Broad scale EU policies (like the Common Agricultural Policy) and socio-economic drivers (like the transition from planned to market economy) seem to be dominant factors in explaining land-cover transformations, while conservation policies may moderate these trends inside PAs