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PSYCHOSOCIAL GENOMICS, CONSCIOUSNESS & HEALTH RESEARCH AND MIND-BODY TRANSFORMATIONS THERAPY (MBT-T)

Epigenetics is a scientific approach for exploring the interaction of nature and nurture: how genes interact with the environment to modulate behavior, cognition and consciousness (Bell & Robertson, 2011; Robinson, Fernald & Clayton, 2008; Feinberg, 2007). Recent research in social psychology documents how complex epigenetic mechanisms modulate gene expression without altering the DNA code (Cole et al., 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2011). The Mind-Body Healing Experience (MHE) focuses on a special class of epigenetic genes that are often described as “activity or experience-dependent genes,” which can be turned on (activated) or off (suppressed) by signals from the physical and psychosocial environment (Rossi, 1986, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2012; Rossi & Rossi, 2013; Lloyd and Rossi, 1992, 2008).Human Consciousness, DNA Microarrays and Mind-Body HealingIn the past decade DNA microarray technology has made it possible to measure the expression levels of many thousands of genes simultaneously. This evidence-based research in molecular biology has become a new standard in personalized medicine (Eisen et al. 1998). Current research documents the use of DNA microarrays for assessing therapeutic responses via a variety of top-down psychobiological processes that were originally developed by many diverse cultural, historical and spiritual traditions of mind-body healing. These include the relaxation response (Dusek et al., 2008), therapeutic hypnosis (Lichtenberg et al., 2000, 2004; Rossi, 2012; Rossi & Rossi, 2013), meditation (Creswell et al., 2012), the therapeutic placebo (Sliwinski and Elkins, 2013) and yoga (Lavretsky et al., 2013) to facilitate optimal states of human consciousness as well as the healing of stress related dysfunctions (Unternaehrer et al., 2012). This pilot study extends this use of DNA microarrays to explore the hypothesis that such top-down therapeutic protocols epitomized by the Mind-Body Healing Experience (MHE) could become the foundation of a more general theory of mind-body communication and healing (Rossi et al., 2008, Atkinson et al. 2010). A full description of the administration and scoring of the top-down MHE protocol (originally named the “Creative Psychosocial Genomic Healing Experience, CPGHE) is freely available (Rossi, 2012). Confirmation of the results of this pilot study could update the cognitive-behavioral efficacy of evidence-based translational medicine recommended as a standard of clinical excellence by Insel (2009, 2010, 2012), director of National Institute of Mental Health.Modeling Mind-Body Healing with Time-Series Gene Expression DataMind-body communication and healing is a normal, daily and hourly cyclic process that needs to be assessed at multiple time periods for a full picture and understanding of how it operates. Researchers are currently using time-series gene expression data to get an overview of how mind-body communication and healing functions (Bar-Joseph et al., 2012; Qian et al., 2013; Lloyd and Rossi, 1992, 2008). This pilot study will explore and illustrate a variety of interesting and insightful approaches for modeling mind-body communication and healing on all levels from mind to gene. Further research with appropriate clinical groups and controls could confirm how psychosocial epigenomic processes associated with behavior and consciousness could modulate the complex adaptive systems of gene expression, brain plasticity, memory, learning, behavior and the qualia of human consciousness.