During the 1920s in Germany and Austria, a movement arose to counteract laboratory-based medicine by emphasizing mental and behavioral aspects of disease treatment.1 That movement, dubbed psychosomatics and today often called mind-body medicine, experienced ebbs and flows of favor over succeeding decades. But under a $50 million initiative, NIH has established 10 centers around the country for mind-body research since 1999. Esther M. Sternberg, director of the National Institute of Mental Health's integrative neural immune program, which has spearheaded recent mind-body research collaborations throughout NIH, declares that "rigorous scientific evidence" has allowed the mainstream medical world "to welcome us with open arms."
Acting NIH director Ruth Kirschstein affirms, "It is now accepted as fact that the brain and the immune system communicate." She adds that this communication plays a role in disease. The social sciences, psychology, neurobiology, neuroendocrinology, and immunology all have contributions to make, Kirschstein notes.
"Every time I ...
