Exploring the role of the nervous system for understanding depression in spinal cord injury

<p>The Neurovisceral Integration theory conceptualizes the nervous system's role in</p><p>understanding health and well-being. The theory describes a set of neural structures</p><p>including the central and the autonomic nervous system involved in generating goaloriented</p><p>responses (Thayer & Lane 2000 2009). These goal-oriented responses</p><p>regulate the affect and cognitive processes (Thayer & Lane 2009) influencing mental</p><p>health. The thesis explores the nervous system's role in depression in spinal cord injury.</p><p>The Neurovisceral Integration theory postulates that the central and autonomic</p><p>nervous system(CNS-ANS) interact in affect and cognitive processes. This CNS-ANS</p><p>interaction inhibits ongoing behavior providing regulation and flexibility for goaloriented</p><p>behavior(Thayer & Lane 2000 2009). Affect is a psychophysiological</p><p>construct and studied using the dimension of valence and arousal.(Appelhans &</p><p>Luecken 2006a; Kuppens et al. 2013; Thayer & Lane 2000). Valence denotes the</p><p>individual's understanding of the pleasantness and unpleasantness of a stimulus</p><p>whereas arousal denotes the activation of the autonomic nervous system in response to</p><p>the stimuli. (Hagemann et al. 2003a; Thayer Hansen Saus-Rose et al. 2009; Thayer</p><p>& Lane 2000 2009; Thayer & Siegle 2002). Cognition refers to the mental processes</p><p>such as thinking problem-solving and decision-making that benefit from inhibitory</p><p>control. The inhibitory control is required for an individual to shift attention from</p><p>existing behavior to goal-oriented behavior (Thayer & Lane 2009).</p>