29 NEUROPATTERN: A NEW DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR PATIENTS WITH STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS.

Stress factors play an important role in physical diseases. Given the tremendous complexity of factors affecting the crosstalk between the brain and the body, there is a broad heterogeneity in the pathogenesis of stress-related disorders among patients, even sharing similar symptoms. In addition, there is a missing covariance between the psychological and biological stress response; thus, subjective patient reports are often misleading. We here introduce “Neuropattern”, a newly developed diagnostic tool for clinical practice, allowing an individualized detection of stress effects in bodily diseases. Neuropattern analyzes stress effects on neurobiological interfaces, participating in the communication between the brain and the body. Functional changes of each of these interfaces are assessed by characteristic patterns of concomitant biological, psychological, and symptomatic measures, occurring in consequence of stress. Stressed patients may differentially qualify for one or more of these neuropattern, thus facilitating highly individualized indications for therapeutic treatments.