Doctoral Dissertation Research: How do perceptions of neuroplasticity impact mental health care?

近几十年来，新的心理健康治疗方法激增。医生在调整实践以纳入这些新疗法的程度上各不相同，他们的决定基于许多因素，包括个人培训，患者和医生的特征以及如何解释研究证据。一个有趣的概念与新的心理健康疗法的吸收是神经可塑性：大脑的能力，以改变对治疗干预。这篇博士论文使用神经可塑性的概念来研究医生的解释框架如何影响和受到新的心理健康疗法的影响。它有助于科学和技术研究，医学人类学，以及研究科学和医学如何付诸实践。它培养研究生科学文化人类学理论和方法，涉及传播到学术，医学和公众观众，并加强本科课程。研究人员进行长期的人种学研究，包括参与者观察和护理提供者和患者的访谈，包括跟踪研究人员和参加有关使用新疗法的培训课程。具体而言，研究者询问对神经可塑性的理解如何影响新型治疗药物的摄取和递送，以及患者和医生特征如何影响对神经可塑性和医疗实践的理解。这个及时的项目告知了文化和医学人类学中重要的理论问题，这些问题对医疗保健服务具有转化意义。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion of new mental health treatments. Physicians vary in the extent to which they adjust their practices to incorporate these novel treatments, with decisions based on a number of factors, including individual training, patient and physician characteristics, and how research evidence is interpreted. One interesting concept associated with uptake of novel mental health therapies is neuroplasticity: the brain’s ability to change in response to therapeutic interventions. This doctoral dissertation uses the concept of neuroplasticity to investigate how physicians’ explanatory frameworks impact and are impacted by the availability of novel mental health therapies. It contributes to science and technology studies, medical anthropology, and studies investigating how science and medicine are put into practice. It trains a graduate student in scientific cultural anthropology theory and methods, involves dissemination to academic, medical, and public audiences, and enhances undergraduate curricula. The investigators conduct long-term ethnographic research involving participant observation and interviews of care providers and patients, including shadowing researchers and participating in training sessions regarding the use of novel therapies. Specifically, the investigator queries how understandings of neuroplasticity shape the uptake and delivery of novel therapeutic agents and how patient and physician characteristics impact understandings of neuroplasticity and medical practice. This timely project informs important theoretical issues in cultural and medical anthropology that have translational significance for healthcare delivery.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.