Neurotrophic Factors
October 15, 2005

Freud, Sullivan, Fromm-Reichmann, Herbert Rosenfeld, and many other psychoanalysts suggested that anxiety was at the core of all mental disorders. After decades of clinical and research experience, I have found this to be true. Affects condition cognitions (see the work of Swiss social psychiatrist Luc Ciompi on Affect-Logic)-the CBT theorists' view that cognitions condition affects could be viewed as a subset of the former (per recent research on the effects of stress on neurocognition). Subcortical learning requires a greater deal of psychotherapeutic involvement than cortical learning (see NYU basic neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux's "Emotional Brain" and "Synaptic Self"-LeDoux is mapping out the fear pathways of the brain, particularly in the amygdala). From my doctoral research on the neuroendocrinology of anxiety/fear, I learned of the massive effects of stress/fear/anxiety on CNS structure/function as well as overall somatic functioning. Over the years, I have productively demonstrated the significant overlap between the neuroscience of mental illness and the neuroscience of acute and chronic stress. Below is a brief description of one aspect of the impact of stress on the brain through its effects on neurotrophic factors. This is only one aspect of a cascade of molecular events which can lead to the atriophic processes seen in the neuroscience of severe mental illness.

Neurotrophic Factors

Neurotrophic factors seem to be good candidates for mediating both the short- and long-term effects of stress on neural function. This large class of heterogeneous proteins/polypeptides is important in neuronal survival and maturation as well as playing a role in controlling neuronal function and cellular resilience (Riva 2005). The neurotrophin family of neurotrophic factors includes nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), NT-4/5 and NT-6, and fibroblast growth factors. Within the last decade, it has become apparent that the neurotrophins not only support the survival of postmitotic neurons, but also regulate various neuronal functions including axonal growth and synaptic plasticity. Stress impacts on the expression and function of neurotrophic factors. Chronic stress may lead to a protracted reduction of neurotrophic factors that could augment cellular vulnerability.

Brian Koehler PhD
New York University