Hormones, Brain Function and Behavior

The more one pries into the bewildering complex of interactions between mind and bodily functions the less one feels able to name precise mechanisms responsible for any one disturbance. This has been said in many ways, many times, but perhaps not more aptly than in the perplexed words of Dr. William Buchan of Edinburgh in his treatise on disease, in 1779 (12). In this he says, "The passions have great influence both in the cause and cure of diseases. How mind acts upon matter will, in all probability, ever remain a secret It is suflBcient for us to know that there is established a reciprocal influence betwixt the mental and corporeal parts, and that whatever disorders the one, likewise affects the other.