Carlos Portela
Patented Equipment
This device, patented at National Institute of Intelectual Proprieties (INPI) under no. PI 010802347-6, was developed at USP. Interviewed by the USP Innovation Agency and the USP Journal, I explained about the advantages and importance of developing this device for behavioral studies. Check here the full publication of the INPI register about this system.
My scientific research work was focused on the study of emotional aspects that influence health. In particular, the consequences of social stress and anxiety on various parameters of allergic inflammatory responses were assessed in order to study asthma. To this end, an apparatus was developed to study the territorial behavior and social stress of allergen-stimulated animals (for more details, click on the photo below).
Stress, Anxiety and Psichosomatic
In living beings, cells, tissues, organs and systems interact dynamically with each other and with the environment, adapting to the difficulties and challenges imposed by nature. There is, however, a complexity of psychobiological and psychosocial factors incorporated into the modern man's social modus vivendi which makes homeostatic return more difficult after stressful events, whether intense or very prolonged (Portela, 1999).
This was the central idea of the research line, which I consider to have originated from my participation in study groups and clinical care during the undergraduate degree in Psychology. In fact, in 1995 I joined two academic working groups at Sao Marcos University: one was to accompany and counseling adolescent drug users and the other was to provide support and clinical counseling to parents of children with nutritional disorders. In both groups, the individuals were from poor communities in the capital of São Paulo and had already been evaluated by other professionals.
These patients had passed all the latest batteries of laboratory tests, but there was no evidence that their disorder or dependence could have an "organic" explanation, or that only conventional medical treatment could solve the situation. Then the patients were referred to the University's psychological clinic, together with their parents, for psychological investigation and diagnosis, addressing their problem.
And it was precisely after attending these patients that I could clearly see the fact that there was an important emotional component behind the problems that individuals had. Through interviews as well as through tests and clinical evaluations, it was evident that the disorders that led to the suffering of patients came from emotional aspects. And this is how the theme of psychosomatics and the holistic idea of the individual's overall well-being became the master line of inquiry in my professional life.
You can check the results of my research in the publications of the international articles cited above, as well as in the master's dissertation and in my doctoral thesis, both which are available at USP.
