The 18th Annual Joseph W. Howe Oration in Diagnostic Imaging drew an enthusiastic audience at Logan University, as students, faculty and healthcare professionals gathered to hear from one of the world’s foremost leaders in neuroimaging, Vitaly Napadow, PhD, LAc. A professor at Harvard Medical School and director of several innovative research programs at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Napadow is a long-time friend of Logan and Norman Kettner, DC (’80), DACBR, FICC, dean of research and professor emeritus of Logan’s Department of Radiology.
Drs. Kettner and Napadow have collaborated on research for nearly 25 years, which has resulted in over 30 neuroscience publications. Logan and Massachusetts General Hospital have collaborated on several long-term research projects related to neuroscience.
“The Joseph W Howe Oration in Diagnostic Imaging has, over the years, been delivered by a spectrum of high-level expertise, covering topics ranging from advances in diagnostic imaging to clinical research breakthroughs, to cutting-edge clinical and therapeutic interventions,” said Dr. Kettner.
Dr. Napadow’s lecture focused on brain-to-brain hyperscanning—an increasingly utilized neuroimaging technique that captures the synchronized brain activity between two people engaged in a shared experience. His research particularly focuses on therapeutic alliance, which is the ongoing bond built between a patient and practitioner. Ultimately, this series of hyperscans helped reveal how trust, compassion and empathy between clinicians and patients can be tangibly recorded as real neuroactivity.
“In this lecture, Dr. Napadow revealed the new horizon for understanding and implementing biopsychosocial principles,” Dr. Kettner said, “This was achieved by utilizing brain interconnectivity to guide patient clinical outcomes and augmenting the doctor-patient therapeutic alliance.”
Having concrete evidence that compassion is not just abstractly “good” but also medically beneficial may change the way that patients are treated. Dr. Napadow explained that better communication skills—and better therapeutic alliance—create a variety of positive outcomes, including increased efficacy of treatment, better management of chronic pain, decreased burnout among practitioners, and even a decrease in the need for pharmacological intervention.
The lecture further explored some interesting connections between therapeutic alliance and other important psychological concepts, such as social mirroring and Theory of Mind. Through multiple variations of experiments, Dr. Napadow and his team were able to continue demonstrating better outcomes for patients receiving therapeutically aligned treatments. The dimensions most improved, in the end, included pain catastrophizing, mood, and adherence to treatment.
In a world where it seems like artificial intelligence is taking over just about everything, Dr. Napadow’s research offered a breath of fresh air: the importance of human connection is never fully going away. Compassion ought to remain at the core of everything healthcare professionals do, and now there is statistically significant evidence needed to prove it.