Rebuilding the brain with psychotherapy

Brain has been the most fascinating and mysterious organ of the human body. Researchers have tried to explore into each and every function of different parts of the human brain linking it up with various mental and neural processes, some of which are phylogenetically shared and many are unshared. It has been hypothesized that brain is built during development and can be rebuilt during psychotherapy. Recent research in neuroscience of socioemotional cognition, developmental neuroscience, coupled with advances in investigative techniques of brain functions has provided tremendous opportunities for the study of brain and the mind. In this article, in the initial part, we have tried to explain the developmental processes involved in building of the human brain and what changes occur when an individual develops a psychiatric disorder. Later on, we have tried to postulate from different researches available that how psychotherapy can bring about a change in the neural mechanisms of the brain producing long-lasting effects. Several changes in the neural architecture of the brain occur during the process of psychotherapy. Further, we would like to elaborate on the hypothesis based on available literature that if psychiatric disorders can debuild the brain, then psychotherapy can help in rebuilding it again.