What is genius? Are there easily identifiable personality traits associated with giftedness? What is the link between intense creativity and madness? These are just some of the questions explored in Genius and the Mind. With historical studies of some of the most famous creative people, this exciting book considers the nature of creativity and genius from a psychological standpoint. Chapters, written by leading researchers in the study of genius, span the range of approaches used to understand the subject--from discussions of the role of genes in giftedness to the importance of social context...

Understanding the links among social environment, emotion, behavior, and illness is a growing theme in medical and health education. The booming development in this field is reflected in the growth of disciplines such as health psychology, psychosocial epidemiology, and behavioral medicine. Until now, however, the basic literature has been awkwardly dispersed across medical and social science journals. Now the most important articles of the past thirty years are brought together in a single volume. The thirty-one articles are grouped around themes such as "Life stress, social support and...

Depression and physical illness are intimately related. Depressed mood is thought to contribute to the development and progression of some illnesses, while physical illness can in turn increase the risk of depression. This book provides a critical overview of the evidence linking depression with several major health conditions, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, disability, chronic fatigue and obesity. It also explores the biological and behavioral processes underlying the association, discussing the role of neuroendocrine, immunological and inflammatory...

Behavioral medicine emerged in the 1970s as the interdisciplinary field concerned with the integration of behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical science knowledge relevant to the understanding of health and illness, and the application of this knowledge to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. Recent years have witnessed an enormous diversification of behavioral medicine, with new sciences (such as genetics, life course epidemiology) and new technologies (such as neuroimaging) coming into play. This book brings together such new developments by providing an up-to-date...

This volume arose from a discussion meeting entitled "Applied Psychophysiology in Cardiovascular Research: Clinical and Methodological Issues" held in May 1984 in Linz, Federal Republic of Germany. The meeting was orga- nised by the Commission of the European Communities' Con- certed Action on Quantification of Parameters for the study of Breakdown in Human Adaptation, in conjunction wi th the Department of Internal Medicine, Uni versi ty of Bonn. The Concerted Action is part of the Medical and Public Health Research Programme of the CEC, and its pur- pose is to encourage multidisciplinary...