Martin Picard, PhD

Probing the Energetic Basis of Mind-Body Processes through Mitochondria

Energy is the missing dimension of biomedicine. Guided by a machine-based mechanical paradigm, the health sciences have mainly focused on deciphering with increasing precision the molecular features of disease. But living systems are dynamic processes whose parts obey not only mechanical rules, but also dynamic energy-based principles specific to living organisms. An energy-based, first-principles scientific approach to human health and healing emphasizes questions that, once resolved and their solutions practically harnessed, will provide a basis for a Science of Healing that overcomes our focus on disease. Aiming to discover such principles, we have studied the interaction of bioenergetic processes within mitochondria and the human mind – which broadly includes human experiences and brain-body patterns of energy in motion (emotions). An energetic understanding of mood and how it relates to inter-individual variations in mitochondrial biology may contribute to this developing picture. As the resulting field of Mitochondrial Psychobiology develops and connects with other concepts across disciplines, new opportunities emerge for young interdisciplinary scientists to contribute to creating an increasingly holistic and accurate model of the healing process that underlies human health.

Martin Picard, PhD is an Associate Professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center where he leads the Mitochondrial Psychobiology Group (www.picardlab.org) and co-directs the Columbia Science of Health program. His research investigates the intersection of the science of energy and the human experience of energy. After identifying novel membrane structures for mitochondrial communication in primary mitochondrial diseases, his laboratory showed that cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) and the energetic resistance biomarker GDF15 are psychological stress-inducible molecules detectable in blood and saliva, developed a mitochondrial health index (MHI) to study the mind-mitochondria connection in immune and brain tissues, and developed a longitudinal cellular lifespan model to show how chronic stressors increase the cost of living and accelerate epigenetic aging in human cells. Dr. Picard’s team has also contributed to defining the diversity of mitochondria across the brain and body, showed that hair greying is reversible, and established how genetic mitochondrial defects influence stress physiology, energy expenditure, and the rate of aging. Together with an international team of collaborators, he leads the NIH-funded Mitochondrial Stress, Brain Imaging and Epigenetics (MiSBIE) study that integrates deep molecular, bioenergetic, clinical and psychosocial phenotyping among individuals with primary mitochondrial disorders. Investigators and trainees in the translational Mitochondrial Psychobiology research group combine clinical, cellular, and computational approaches to create a holistic vision of the energetic underpinning of human health and healing.

Reading List 

Bobba-Alves, Natalia, et al. “The energetic cost of allostasis and allostatic load.” Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 146, 6 Oct. 2022, p. 105951, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105951.

Kelly, Catherine, et al. A Platform to Map the Mind-Mitochondria Connection and the Hallmarks of Psychobiology: The Misbie Study, 22 July 2024, https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/6evn7.

Picard, Martin. “Energy transduction and the mind–mitochondria connection.” The Biochemist, vol. 44, no. 4, 1 Aug. 2022, pp. 14–18, https://doi.org/10.1042/bio_2022_118.

Picard, Martin. “Why do we care more about disease than health?” Phenomics, vol. 2, no. 3, 28 Jan. 2022, pp. 145–155, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43657-021-00037-8.

Trumpff, Caroline, et al. “Psychosocial experiences are associated with human brain mitochondrial biology.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 27, 18 June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2317673121.