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Scienceandtechnology-PsychosomaticmedicinePsychosomaticmedicineThinkyourselfwellYoucan.ButithelpstothinkwellofyourselfinthefirstplaceTHElinkbetweenmindandbodyisterrainintowhichmanymedicalresearchers,fearingridicule,darenottread.Butperhapsmoreshoulddoso.Forcenturies,doctorshaverecognisedtheplaceboeffect,inwhichtheillusionoftreatment,suchaspillswithoutanactiveingredient,producesrealmedicalbenefits.Morerecently,respectableresearchhasdemonstratedthatthosewhofrequentlyexperiencepositiveemotionslivelongerandhealthierlives.Theyhavefewerheartattacks,forexample,andfewercoldstoo.Whythishappens,though,isonlyslowlybecomingunderstood.Whatisneededisanexperimentthatpointsoutspecificandmeasurablewaysinwhichsuchemotionsalteranindividual'sbiology.AndastudypublishedinPsychologicalScience,byBarbaraFredricksonandBethanyKokattheUniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,doespreciselythat.DrFredricksonandDrKokconcentratedtheirattentionsonthevagusnerve.Thisnervestartsinthebrainandruns,vianumerousbranches,toseveralthoracicandabdominalorgansincludingtheheart.Amongitsjobsistosendsignalstellingthatorgantoslowdownduringmomentsofcalmandsafety.Howeffectivelythevagusnerveisworkingcanbetrackedbymonitoringsomeone'sheartrateashebreathesinandout.Healthyvagalfunctionisreflectedinasubtleincreaseinheartratewhilebreathinginandasubtledecreasewhilebreathingout.Thedifferenceyieldsanindexofvagaltone,andthevalueofthisindexisknowntobeconnectedwithhealth.Lowvaluesare,forexample,linkedtoinflammationandheartattacks.WhatparticularlyinterestedDrFredricksonandDrKokwasrecentworkthatshowedsomethingelseaboutthevagal-toneindex:peoplewithhightonearebetterthanthosewithlowatstoppingbadfeelingsgettingoverblown.Theyalsoshowmorepositiveemotionsingeneral.Thismayprovidethemissinglinkbetweenemotionalwell-beingandphysicalhealth.Inparticular,thetworesearchersfound,duringapreliminarystudytheycarriedoutin2010,thatthevagal-tonevaluesofthosewhoexperiencepositiveemotionsoveraperiodoftimegoup.Thisleftthemwonderingwhetherpositiveemotionsandvagaltonedriveoneanotherinavirtuousspiral.Theythereforeconductedanexperimenton65oftheuniversity'sstaff,totrytofindout.Theymeasuredalloftheirvolunteers'vagaltonesatthebeginningoftheexperimentandatitsconclusionnineweekslater.Inbetween,thevolunteerswereaskedtogoeacheveningtoawebsiteespeciallydesignedforthepurpose,andratetheirmostpowerfulemotionalexperiencesthatday.DrFredricksonandDrKokaskedtheirvolunteerstoconsiderninepositiveemotions,suchashope,joyandlove,and11negativeones,includinganger,boredomanddisgust.Theywereaskedtorate,onafive-pointscale,whether—andhowstrongly—theyhadfelteachemotion.Onepointmeantnotatall;fivemeantextremely.Inaddition,halftheparticipants,chosenatrandom,wereinvitedtoaseriesofworkshopsrunbyalicensedtherapist,tolearnameditationtechniqueintendedtoengenderinthemeditatorafeelingofgoodwilltowardsbothhimselfandothers.Thisgroupwasencouragedtomeditatedaily,andtoreportthetimetheyspentdoingso.DrFredricksonandDrKokdiscoveredthatvagaltoneincreasedsignificantlyinpeoplewhomeditated,andhardlyatallinthosewhodidnot.Amongmeditators,thosewhostartedtheexperimentwiththehighestvagal-tonescoresreportedthebiggestincreasesinpositiveemotions.Meditatorswhostartedwithparticularlylowscoresshowedvirtuallynosuchboost.Takenasawhole,thesefindingssuggesthighvagaltonemakesiteasiertogeneratepositiveemotionsandthatthis,inturn,drivesvagaltonestillhigher.Thatisbothliterallyandmetaphoricallyapositivefeedbackloop.Whichisgoodnewsfortheemotionallypositive,butbadfortheemotionallynegative,foritimpliesthatthosewhomostneedapsychosomaticboostareincapableofgeneratingone.AfurtherexperimentbyDrKoksuggests,however,thatthegrumpyneednotgiveupallhope.Asimplerprocedurethanmeditation,namelyreflectingatnightontheday'ssocialconnections,didseemtocausesomeimprovementtotheirvagaltone.Thismightalloweventhosewithanegativeoutlookonlifetobootstraptheirwaytoamentalstatefromwhichtheycouldthenadvancetothemorepowerfultechniqueofmeditation.Whether,besidesimprovinggeneralhealth,themechanismDrFredricksonandDrKokhavediscoveredhelpsexplaintheplaceboeffectremainstobeinvestigated.Butitmight,becausepartofthateffectseemstobethegoodfeelingengenderedbythefactofbeingtreated.Moregenerally,doctorsintheancientworldhadasaying:ahealthymindinahealthybody.Thissortofworksuggeststhatthoughthisproverbistrue,abetteronemightbe,ahealthymindforahealthybody.