ISPNE: A DREAM THAT HAS COME TRUE
By Francesca Brambilla
Centro di Psiconeuroendocrinologia, Milano, Italy
The ISPNE story begins in September 1962 at a French gynaecological endocrinology congress in Beirut, Lebanon, where Prof. Sheehan is talking about his recently presented discovery of the secretion of Releasing and Inhibiting Factors by the hypothalamus, regulating peripheral hormonal secretions. It is fascinating. No one has ever thought about the brain as a hormonal secreting organ before, and the audience is all excited. I am suddenly struck by the idea that if the brain produces hormones, their secretory alterations might be involved, somehow, in the cause, development, and response to the treatment of mental disorders.
I search through the literature and find that very few researchers studied - even remotely - this relationship, the biggest one being Prof. Max Reiss who works at Willowbrook State School Hospital, Staten Island, New York, NY, USA. For years I try to work in this field totally alone. Then I decide I cannot go blindly on like this, and decide I must look for help. In the summer of 1968, I visit Max Reiss. I am granted a 30-minute appointment, but we end up talking the entire day about our research.
