Preface to Personality and Brain Disorders: Associations and Interventions

Abstract

The human brain, the body’s control center, is composed of billions of glia, 100 billion neurons, and one quadrillion neural connections. The brain is part of the nervous system, which also includes the spinal cord and a large network of peripheral neurons and nerve terminals. The nervous system controls everything from the five senses, the muscles throughout the body, to thought pattern, and the apprehension of life as a whole. Therefore, damage to the brain can affect many different things, including memory, sensation, and even personality. Brain disorders include any conditions or disabilities, such as illness, genetics, or traumatic injury, which affect the brain. In other words, brain disorders consist of a myriad of conditions including neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and affective disorders, which might be investigated, possibly abated, and prevented using person-centered methods. However, since personality is a phenomenon that is debated as either changeable or stable, current research has not been able to definitively denote ways to engage person-centered methods in the care of people with brain disorders. Here, human personality has been defined as the dynamic organization, within an individual, of psychobiological systems that modulate adaptation to a changing environment (Cloninger, Svrakic, & Przybeck, 1993). Throughout the book, however, personality is conceptualized using different models. The first part of this book aims to outline the associations between brain disorders and personality. The second part outlines different approaches used in the health care and education of people suffering from different brain disorders. The third part focuses on challenges and new venues.