Institute for Health Disparities Research, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2019 Oct;236(10):2923-2936. doi: 10.1007/s00213-019-5178-7. Epub 2019 Feb 5.
As a species, humans are vulnerable to numerous mental disorders, including depression and schizophrenia. This susceptibility may be due to the evolution of our large, complex brains, or perhaps because these illnesses counterintuitively confer some adaptive advantage. Additionally, cultural and biological factors may contribute to susceptibility and variation in mental illness experience and expression. Taking a holistic perspective could strengthen our understanding of these illnesses in diverse cultural contexts.
This paper reviews some of these potential factors and contextualizes mental disorders within a biocultural framework.
There is growing evidence that suggests cultural norms may influence inflammation, neurotransmitters, and neurobiology, as well as the illness experience. Specific examples include variation in schizophrenia delusions between countries, differences in links between inflammation and emotion between the United States and Japan, and differences in brain activity between Caucasian and Asian participants indicating that cultural values may moderate cognitive processes related to social cognition and interoception.
Research agendas that are grounded in an appreciation of biocultural diversity as it relates to psychiatric illness represent key areas for truly interdisciplinary research that can result in culturally sensitive treatments and highlight possible biological variation affecting medical treatment.
作为一个物种，人类易患许多精神障碍，包括抑郁症和精神分裂症。这种易感性可能是由于我们大脑的庞大和复杂进化而来，或者是因为这些疾病反直觉地带来了一些适应优势。此外，文化和生物因素可能导致精神疾病的易感性和表现存在差异。采取整体观点可以加强我们对不同文化背景下这些疾病的理解。
本文回顾了其中一些潜在因素，并在生物文化框架内对精神障碍进行了定位。
越来越多的证据表明，文化规范可能会影响炎症、神经递质和神经生物学，以及疾病体验。具体例子包括不同国家之间精神分裂症妄想的变化、美国和日本之间炎症与情绪之间联系的差异，以及白人和亚洲参与者之间大脑活动的差异，表明文化价值观可能调节与社会认知和内脏感知相关的认知过程。
以对与精神疾病相关的生物文化多样性的认识为基础的研究议程，代表了真正跨学科研究的关键领域，这些研究可以产生对文化敏感的治疗方法，并突出可能影响医疗的生物变异。
