CONVERSATIONS WITH CLAUDIA AGUIRRE
BY MAE MAÑACAP- JOHNSON
As a neuroscientist and skin expert, Dr. Claudia
Aguirre specializes in the brain-skin connection. In the medical world, this unique interaction of mind and skin has given birth to psychodermatology, a relatively new discipline in psychosomatic medicine that looks into how emotional and environmental stressors affect the skin.
Dr. Aguirre has extensively spoken about the brain-skin connection, including at TEDxUCLA. She is also part of the scientific committee of [ comfort zone ] wherein she advises its R & D team regarding the development of new skin-care products.“ I became involved with [ comfort zone ] a year ago after meeting the chairman, Davide Bollati. The committee includes a dermatologist, a cardiologist and myself( a neuroscientist). Together, we bring our expertise from different areas and help trigger ideas about future products or treatments for [ comfort zone ],” she says.
In this Conversations, Dr. Aguirre provides a more scientific look at how the brain affects the skin.
PULSE: What sparked your interest in psychodermatology? Dr. Claudia Aguirre: I was initially researching skin sensitivity while working on launching a line of professional skin products when I uncovered the new research of the skin’ s neuroimmunology.
P: We’ ve heard about psychodermatology or the brain-skin connection for a while now. Can you provide an overview on how this connection was first discovered?
A: Believe it or not, the connection Click here between our digestive health, our to view the emotions and, ultimately, skin video! health was described back in
1930, by dermatologists John H. Stokes and Donald M. Pillsbury. While the idea of prescribing probiotics to patients suffering from acne seems ahead of its time, somehow, this knowledge was buried for many years. It’ s only been in the past decade or so that scientists have uncovered the mechanisms behind the brain-skin connection. For instance, beginning in the late 90s, researchers examined the effects of stress on atopic dermatitis and other inflammatory skin conditions. Then, the field moved into the neuroscience of the neuro-immuno-endocrine system of the skin as it responds to stress. Today, the research is ongoing and has uncovered much about the independent stress axis of
24 PULSE ■ August 2016