5 Mar 2025

Cambridge University research into how physical and mental health are inseparable

From Nine To Noon, 10:05 am on 5 March 2025
Doctor on blurred background using digital brain scan hologram 3D rendering

Photo: RNZ/123rf

A neuroscientist at Cambridge University is challenging traditional concepts that illnesses divide into either mental or physical.

Camilla Nord, who leads the Mental Health and Neuroscience Lab, says traditionally Western medicine has split healthcare between mind and body.

But in her book, "The Balanced Brain - the science of mental health" by Penguin, she argues that mental and physical health are deeply intertwined; everything is both physical and psychological.

Even pain in her foot caused by an injury, she says, was made worse as her brain became used to the feeling, monitored it and enhanced the sensation.

She joins Kathryn to talk about how re-balancing perceptions could open up more effective treatments.