Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 2/2009

01-11-2009

Neuropsychotherapy: conceptual, empirical and neuroethical issues

Authors: Henrik Walter, Mathias Berger, Knut Schnell

Published in: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience | Special Issue 2/2009

Login to get access

Abstract

In this article we suggest a working definition for the concept of “neuropsychotherapy” encompassing three areas: the identification of mediators and targets of psychotherapeutic effects, the determination of new therapeutic routes using neurotechnology, and the design of psychotherapeutic interventions based on neuroscientific knowledge. We review neuroimaging studies of the psychotherapy of depression and discuss some of the methodological limitations inherent in functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and common fallacies perpetrated in interpreting fMRI studies. Finally, we discuss some neuroethical issues related to this new and active field of research. In sum, we argue that neuroscience harbors great potential and add-on value for improving psychotherapeutic practice and research if applied properly.
Literature
1.
Abler B, Erk S, Herwig U, Walter H (2007) Anticipation of aversive stimuli activates extended amygdala in unipolar depression. J Psychiatr Res 41:511–522CrossRefPubMed
2.
Anand A, Li Y, Wang Y, Gardner K, Lowe MJ (2007) Reciprocal effects of antidepressant treatment on activity and connectivity of the mood regulating circuit: an FMRI study. J Neuropsych Clin Neurosci 19:274–282
3.
Baxter LR Jr, Schwartz JM, Phelps ME, Mazziotta JC, Guze BH, Selin CE, Gerner RH, Sumida RM (1989) Reduction of prefrontal cortex glucose metabolism common to three types of depression. Arch Gen Psychiatr 46:243–250PubMed
4.
Beauregard M (2009) Effect of mind on brain activity: evidence from neuroimaging studies of psychotherapy and placebo effect. Nord J Psychiatr 63:5–16CrossRef
5.
Beauregard M, Levesque J, Bourgouin P (2001) Neural correlates of conscious self-regulation of emotion. J Neurosci 21:RC165
6.
Beck AT (2008) The evolution of the cognitive model of depression and its neurobiological correlates. Am J Psychiatr 165:969–977CrossRefPubMed
7.
Birbaumer N, Veit R, Lotze M, Erb M, Hermann C, Grodd W, Flor H (2005) Deficient fear conditioning in psychopathy: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Arch Gen Psychiatr 62:799–805CrossRefPubMed
8.
Blair J, Mitchel D, Blair K (2005) The psychopath: emotion and the brain. Blackwell, Oxford
9.
Brody AL, Saxena S, Stoessel P, Gillies LA, Fairbanks LA, Alborzian S, Phelps ME, Huang SC, Wu HM, Ho ML, Ho MK, Au SC, Maidment K, Baxter LR Jr (2001) Regional brain metabolic changes in patients with major depression treated with either paroxetine or interpersonal therapy: preliminary findings. Arch Gen Psychiatr 58:631–640CrossRefPubMed
10.
Buchheim A, Heinrichs M, George C, Pokorny D, Koops E, Hennigssen P, O’Connor MF, Gündel H (2009) Oxytocin enhances the experience of attachment security. Psychoneuroendocrinology (in press)
11.
Cojan Y, Waber L, Carruzzo A, Vuilleumier P (2009) Motor inhibition in hysterical conversion paralysis. Neuroimage 47:1026–1037CrossRefPubMed
12.
Davidson RJ, Irwin W, Anderle MJ, Kalin NH (2003) The neural substrates of affective processing in depressed patients treated with venlafaxine. Am J Psychiatr 160:64–75CrossRefPubMed
13.
14.
de Charms RC, Maeda F, Glover GH, Ludlow D, Pauly JM, Soneji D, Gabrieli JD, Mackey SC (2005) Control over brain activation and pain learned by using real-time functional MRI. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:18626–18631CrossRef
15.
Demertzi A, Liew C, Ledoux D, Bruno MA, Sharpe M, Laureys S, Zeman A (2009) Dualism persists in the science of mind. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1157:1–9CrossRefPubMed
16.
DeRubeis RJ, Siegle GJ, Hollon SD (2008) Cognitive therapy versus medication for depression: treatment outcomes and neural mechanisms. Nat Rev Neurosci 9:788–796CrossRefPubMed
17.
Domes G, Heinrichs M, Michel A, Berger C, Herpertz SC (2007) Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans. Biol Psychiatr 61:731–733CrossRef
18.
Drevets WC (1999) Prefrontal cortical-amygdalar metabolism in major depression. Ann N Y Acad Sci 877:614–637CrossRefPubMed
19.
Freud S (1895) Project for a scientific psychology. In: Srachey J (ed) Standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud. Hogarth Press, London, pp 294–397
20.
Frewen PA, Dozois DJ, Lanius RA (2008) Neuroimaging studies of psychological interventions for mood and anxiety disorders: empirical and methodological review. Clin Psychol Rev 28:228–246CrossRefPubMed
21.
Fu CH, Williams SC, Cleare AJ, Brammer MJ, Walsh ND, Kim J, Andrew CM, Pich EM, Williams PM, Reed LJ, Mitterschiffthaler MT, Suckling J, Bullmore ET (2004) Attenuation of the neural response to sad faces in major depression by antidepressant treatment: a prospective, event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Arch Gen Psychiatr 61:877–889CrossRefPubMed
22.
Fu CH, Williams SC, Cleare AJ, Scott J, Mitterschiffthaler MT, Walsh ND, Donaldson C, Suckling J, Andrew C, Steiner H, Murray RM (2008) Neural responses to sad facial expressions in major depression following cognitive behavioral therapy. Biol Psychiatr 64:505–512CrossRef
23.
Goldapple K, Segal Z, Garson C, Lau M, Bieling P, Kennedy S, Mayberg H (2004) Modulation of cortical-limbic pathways in major depression: treatment-specific effects of cognitive behavior therapy. Arch Gen Psychiatr 61:34–41CrossRefPubMed
24.
Grawe K (2004) Neuropsychotherapie. Hogrefe, Göttingen
25.
Gross JJ (2002) Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology 39:281–291CrossRefPubMed
26.
Hofmann SG, Meuret AE, Smits JA, Simon NM, Pollack MH, Eisenmenger K, Shiekh M, Otto MW (2006) Augmentation of exposure therapy with D-cycloserine for social anxiety disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatr 63:298–304CrossRefPubMed
27.
Illes J, Bird SJ (2006) Neuroethics: a modern context for ethics in neuroscience. Trends Neurosci 29:511–517CrossRefPubMed
28.
Jauch-Chara K, Hohagen F (2009) Neurobiological correlates of psychotherapy of depression [Neurobiologische Korrelate der Psychotherapie bei Depression]. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie 57:105–112CrossRef
29.
Kandel ER (1998) A new intellectual framework for psychiatry. Am J Psychiatr 155:457–469PubMed
30.
Keller MB, McCullough JP, Klein DN, Arnow B, Dunner DL, Gelenberg AJ, Markowitz JC, Nemeroff CB, Russell JM, Thase ME, Trivedi MH, Zajecka J (2000) A comparison of nefazodone, the cognitive behavioral-analysis system of psychotherapy, and their combination for the treatment of chronic depression. N Engl J Med 342:1462–1470CrossRefPubMed
31.
Kennedy SH, Evans KR, Kruger S, Mayberg HS, Meyer JH, McCann S, Arifuzzman AI, Houle S, Vaccarino FJ (2001) Changes in regional brain glucose metabolism measured with positron emission tomography after paroxetine treatment of major depression. Am J Psychiatr 158:899–905PubMed
32.
Kennedy SH, Konarski JZ, Segal ZV, Lau MA, Bieling PJ, McIntyre RS, Mayberg HS (2007) Differences in brain glucose metabolism between responders to CBT and venlafaxine in a 16-week randomized controlled trial. Am J Psychiatr 164:778–788CrossRefPubMed
33.
Kirsch I, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB, Scoboria A, Moore TJ, Johnson BT (2008) Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: a meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. PLoS Med 5:e45CrossRefPubMed
34.
Kosfeld M, Heinrichs M, Zak PJ, Fischbacher U, Fehr E (2005) Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 435:673–676CrossRefPubMed
35.
36.
Linden DE (2006) How psychotherapy changes the brain—the contribution of functional neuroimaging. Mol Psychiatr 11:528–538CrossRef
37.
38.
39.
Martin SD, Martin E, Rai SS, Richardson MA, Royall R (2001) Brain blood flow changes in depressed patients treated with interpersonal psychotherapy or venlafaxine hydrochloride: preliminary findings. Arch Gen Psychiatr 58:641–648CrossRefPubMed
40.
Mayberg HS (2003) Modulating dysfunctional limbic-cortical circuits in depression: towards development of brain-based algorithms for diagnosis and optimised treatment. Br Med Bull 65:193–207CrossRefPubMed
41.
Mayberg HS (2003) Positron emission tomography imaging in depression: a neural systems perspective. Neuroimaging Clin N Am 13:805–815CrossRefPubMed
42.
Mayberg HS, Brannan SK, Mahurin RK, Jerabek PA, Brickman JS, Tekell JL, Silva JA, McGinnis S, Glass TG, Martin CC, Fox PT (1997) Cingulate function in depression: a potential predictor of treatment response. Neuroreport 8:1057–1061CrossRefPubMed
43.
Mayberg HS, Liotti M, Brannan SK, McGinnis S, Mahurin RK, Jerabek PA, Silva JA, Tekell JL, Martin CC, Lancaster JL, Fox PT (1999) Reciprocal limbic-cortical function and negative mood: converging PET findings in depression and normal sadness. Am J Psychiatr 156:675–682PubMed
44.
Mayberg HS, Silva JA, Brannan SK, Tekell JL, Mahurin RK, McGinnis S, Jerabek PA (2002) The functional neuroanatomy of the placebo effect. Am J Psychiatr 159:728–737CrossRefPubMed
45.
McCullough JP (2003) Treatment for chronic depression: cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP). Guilford
46.
47.
Nader K, Hardt O (2009) A single standard for memory: the case for reconsolidation. Nat Rev Neurosci 10:224–234CrossRefPubMed
48.
Nemeroff CB, Heim CM, Thase ME, Klein DN, Rush AJ, Schatzberg AF, Ninan PT, McCullough JP Jr, Weiss PM, Dunner DL, Rothbaum BO, Kornstein S, Keitner G, Keller MB (2003) Differential responses to psychotherapy versus pharmacotherapy in patients with chronic forms of major depression and childhood trauma. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:14293–14296CrossRefPubMed
49.
50.
Ochsner KN, Ray RD, Cooper JC, Robertson ER, Chopra S, Gabrieli JD, Gross JJ (2004) For better or for worse: neural systems supporting the cognitive down- and up-regulation of negative emotion. Neuroimage 23:483–499CrossRefPubMed
51.
Phelps EA, Delgado MR, Nearing KI, LeDoux JE (2004) Extinction learning in humans: role of the amygdala and vmPFC. Neuron 43:897–905CrossRefPubMed
52.
Raboni MR, Tufik S, Suchecki D (2006) Treatment of PTSD by eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) improves sleep quality, quality of life, and perception of stress. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1071:508–513CrossRefPubMed
53.
Schleim S, Walter H (2007) Mind reading with the brain scanner? [Gedankenlesen mit dem Hirnscanner?] Nervenheilkunde 26:505–510
54.
Schleim S, Walter H (2008) Mind reading: a challenge for neuroethics [Gedankenlesen—Eine Herausforderung für die Neuroethik]. In: Vogelsang F, Hoppe C (eds) Without the brain, nothing works. Impulses for a neuroethics [Ohne Hirn ist alles nichts. Impulse für eine Neuroethik]. Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn, pp 150–168
55.
Schnell K, Herpertz SC (2007) Effects of dialectic-behavioral-therapy on the neural correlates of affective hyperarousal in borderline personality disorder. J Psychiatr Res 41:837–847CrossRefPubMed
56.
Schoepf D, Konradt B, Walter H (2007) Specific psychotherapy of chronic depression with the Cognitive Behavioral System of Psychotherapy [Spezifische Psychotherapie der chronischen Depression mit dem Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy]. Nervenheilkunde 26:790–802
57.
Schonfeldt-Lecuona C, Connemann BJ, Spitzer M, Herwig U (2003) Transcranial magnetic stimulation in the reversal of motor conversion disorder. Psychother Psychosom 72:286–288CrossRefPubMed
58.
Seminowicz DA, Mayberg HS, McIntosh AR, Goldapple K, Kennedy S, Segal Z, Rafi-Tari S (2004) Limbic-frontal circuitry in major depression: a path modeling metanalysis. Neuroimage 22:409–418CrossRefPubMed
59.
Sessa B (2007) Is there a case for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the UK? J Psychopharmacol 21:220–224CrossRefPubMed
60.
Sheline YI, Barch DM, Donnelly JM, Ollinger JM, Snyder AZ, Mintun MA (2001) Increased amygdala response to masked emotional faces in depressed subjects resolves with antidepressant treatment: an fMRI study. Biol Psychiatr 50:651–658CrossRef
61.
Siegle GJ, Carter CS, Thase ME (2006) Use of fMRI to predict recovery from unipolar depression with cognitive behavior therapy. Am J Psychiatr 163:735–738CrossRefPubMed
62.
Siegle GJ, Thompson W, Carter CS, Steinhauer SR, Thase ME (2007) Increased amygdala and decreased dorsolateral prefrontal BOLD responses in unipolar depression: related and independent features. Biol Psychiatr 61:198–209CrossRef
63.
Spence SA, Crimlisk HL, Cope H, Ron MA, Grasby PM (2000) Discrete neurophysiological correlates in prefrontal cortex during hysterical and feigned disorder of movement. Lancet 355:1243–1244CrossRefPubMed
64.
Staudinger MR, Erk S, Abler B, Walter H (2009) Cognitive reappraisal modulates expected value and prediction error encoding in the ventral striatum. Neuroimage 47:713–721CrossRefPubMed
65.
Walter H (2009) What can we measure? Neuroimaging—an introduction into basic principles, common fallacies and their possible relevance for penal law and our idea of man. [Was können wir messen? Neuroimaging—eine Einführung in methodische Grundlagen, häufige Fehlschlüsse und ihre mögliche Bedeutung für Strafrecht und Menschenbild.] In: Schleim S, Spranger T, Walter H (eds) From Neuroethics to Neurolaw. The beginning of a new debate. [Von der Neuroethik zum Neurorecht. Der Beginn einer neuen Debatte.] Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen, pp 67–103
66.
Walter H, Abler B, Ciaramidaro A, Erk S (2005) Motivating forces of human actions. Neuroimaging reward and social interaction. Brain Res Bull 67:368–381CrossRefPubMed
67.
Walter H, Adenzato M, Ciaramidaro A, Enrici I, Pia L, Bara BG (2004) Understanding intentions in social interaction: the role of the anterior paracingulate cortex. J Cogn Neurosci 16:1854–1863CrossRefPubMed
68.
Walter H, von Kalckreuth A, Schardt D, Stephan A, Erk S (2009) The temporal dynamics of emotion regulation. PLoS ONE 4(8):e6726CrossRef
69.
Yehuda R, LeDoux J (2007) Response variation following trauma: a translational neuroscience approach to understanding PTSD. Neuron 56:19–32CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Neuropsychotherapy: conceptual, empirical and neuroethical issues
Authors
Henrik Walter
Mathias Berger
Knut Schnell
Publication date
01-11-2009
Publisher
D. Steinkopff-Verlag
Published in
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience / Issue Special Issue 2/2009
Print ISSN: 0940-1334
Electronic ISSN: 1433-8491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-009-0058-5

Other articles of this Special Issue 2/2009

European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 2/2009 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

The role of ceramide in major depressive disorder

OriginalPaper

Brain imaging: on the way toward a therapeutic discipline

OriginalPaper

Quality assurance in psychiatry: quality indicators and guideline implementation

OriginalPaper

Future classification of psychotic disorders

OriginalPaper

Is evidence sufficient for evidence-based medicine?

OriginalPaper

European psychiatry: needs, challenges and structures