Generation Research Program, Human Science Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Prof.-Max-Lange-Platz 11, 83646 Bad Tölz, Germany.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2011 Jun 27;366(1572):1838-48. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0389.
Empirical findings have identified spirituality as a potential health resource. Whereas older research has associated such effects with the social component of religion, newer conceptualizations propose that spiritual experiences and the intrapersonal effects that are facilitated by regular spiritual practice might be pivotal to understanding potential salutogenesis. Ongoing studies suggest that spiritual experiences and practices involve a variety of neural systems that may facilitate neural 'top-down' effects that are comparable if not identical to those engaged in placebo responses. As meaningfulness seems to be both a hallmark of spirituality and placebo reactions, it may be regarded as an overarching psychological concept that is important to engaging and facilitating psychophysiological mechanisms that are involved in health-related effects. Empirical evidence suggests that spirituality may under certain conditions be a predictor of placebo response and effects. Assessment of patients' spirituality and making use of various resources to accommodate patients' spiritual needs reflect our most current understanding of the physiological, psychological and socio-cultural aspects of spirituality, and may also increase the likelihood of eliciting self-healing processes. We advocate the position that a research agenda addressing responses and effects of both placebo and spirituality could therefore be (i) synergistic, (ii) valuable to each phenomenon on its own, and (iii) contributory to an extended placebo paradigm that is centred around the concept of meaningfulness.
实证研究已经确定了精神信仰是一种潜在的健康资源。虽然早期的研究将这些影响与宗教的社会因素联系起来，但新的概念化提出，精神体验和由定期的精神实践所带来的人际间的影响，可能是理解潜在的健康促进的关键。正在进行的研究表明，精神体验和实践涉及多种神经系统，这些系统可能有助于神经的“自上而下”的影响，这些影响与安慰剂反应相似，如果不是相同的话。由于意义似乎既是精神信仰的标志，也是安慰剂反应的标志，因此它可以被视为一个总体的心理概念，对于参与和促进与健康相关的影响有关的心理生理机制非常重要。实证证据表明，在某些情况下，精神信仰可能是安慰剂反应和效果的预测因素。评估患者的精神信仰并利用各种资源来满足患者的精神需求，反映了我们对精神信仰的生理、心理和社会文化方面的最新理解，也可能增加引发自我疗愈过程的可能性。我们主张，一个既关注安慰剂又关注精神信仰的反应和效果的研究议程，因此可以(i)协同作用，(ii)对每个现象本身都有价值，(iii)有助于以意义为中心的扩展的安慰剂范式。
