"This is surprising in light of the current view in the medical community of the relative importance of the cranial brain in the head," explained Meridian researcher, Carl Nelson, Virginia Beach chiropractor.  "We discern and make decisions with the cranial brain, but all the body's vital processes are controlled by the abdominal brain.  It has the same type of nervous system as the brain, same neurotransmitters - everything.  It is also the seat of the emotions, which is staggering in its implications."

This also ties in directly with what Cayce spoke of about the cerebrospinal system and the sympathetic nervous system.  The vast majority of diseases, according to the readings, involved an incoordination between these two systems: the cerebrospinal, which Cayce termed the conscious mind of the individual, and the sympathetic system, of which the abdominal brain is the largest cluster of cells - what Cayce referred to as the imaginative body, the emotional body, the impulsive body, the trained body, the abnormal or unconscious mind, and the seat of the soul forces.  In short, our emotions directly influence the physiological processes of life.  As physician Eric Mein added, "We are more than the thin strip of the cortex that we identify as consciousness."

"Cayce advised people to step aside and watch themselves go by," said Dr. Nelson.  "This implies observing one's behavior.  Emotions are internal behaviors.  If one watches oneself go by, what is implied is that one can watch one's internal behavior - or emotions - and, hopefully, alter that internal behavior.  In the process, we alter the health of the body."

He and Dr. Mein, working with David McMillin, a mental health counselor, and Douglas G. Richards, research director of Meridian, drew this conclusion from their research with patients suffering from psoriasis, migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.

They began working together in 1994 after McMillin sent out a call to area professionals interested in researching the concepts from the readings on regenerating the nervous system.  They agreed to activate Dr. Mein's then-dormant Meridian Institute as a nonprofit organization geared to formal research.  A year later, A.R.E. trustee Rudy Barden offered to donate funds if they would create a research program styled like programs developed at the A.R.E. Clinic in Phoenix.  "Since we were interested in clinical research, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to create treatment protocols and refine them as we gathered clinical data," explained Dr. Mein.  The group came up with a plan: they would determine the hypotheses in the readings for specific diseases and lay out a protocol to follow in treatment programs aimed at validating Cayce's concepts.
 
Participants would come for an initial 10-day group experience in Virginia Beach; meals would be prepared and served according to the Cayce diet; and massage, colonics, and other therapies would be provided by A.R.E.'s Health Services Department.  Mein would conduct medical examinations to gather baseline data; McMillin would research psychological factors and do comparative studies of the Cayce readings with traditional osteopathy and current medical literature; Richards would do the physiological research; and Nelson would provide chiropractic treatments.  Two months later, the participants would gather again, and Meridian would examine the results.

It would not be a simple task: every therapy, every dietary suggestion, every attitudinal approach would have to be spelled out step by step so that people could apply them on their own - a kind of Cayce-oriented home health care regime.  But it was the opportunity they had all been waiting for.  Carl Nelson explained: "We wanted the attention of intelligent, imaginative, gifted medical researchers focused on some of the information from the readings that has never been investigated.  If we could validate Cayce's basic premises and offer solid information to the medical community, it could potentially alter the current paradigm of how the body functions and the mechanisms of the body/mind connection."

The first program was offered to psoriasis sufferers.  The treatment protocol had already been developed by John Pagano, New Jersey chiropractor, who had 30 years of clinical success with patients using the Cayce recommendations.  Meridian would simply validate the basic hypothesis: that psoriasis was caused by "Leaky Gut Syndrome," a thinning of the intestinal walls that allowed toxins to seep into the blood and lymphatics, which were then eliminated through the skin.  The initial test confirmed that the majority did indeed show signs of intestinal permeability outside the normal range.  Thermographic studies - a type of camera that visually displays patterns of heat and cold on the body - also confirmed the presence of areas of lesions in the spine around the sixth and seventh dorsal, yet another Cayce hypothesis.  The psychological profile was, said Nelson, among the most interesting findings.  "As with nearly all diseases, Cayce suggested that stress played a role in its development.  What was unexpected was to see how large a role it played.  What we discovered was that most of the participants had experienced an unusually difficult childhood.  As a result, they developed a series of coping behaviors.  For instance, there was enormous tension in the abdominal area, the abdominal brain.  This hyper-vigilance resulted in the release of enormous amounts of adrenaline, with the subsequent firing of nerve fibers in the area, causing blood to shunt away from the digestive organs to the muscles." The result: the GI tract was deprived of a normal flow of blood - a prime causative factor in intestinal pathology.  Two months later, seven of the nine participants showed improvement, and surprisingly the majority showed marked changes in bowel permeability.

An epilepsy program followed.  Some of the Meridian researchers had been engaged in an epilepsy study group since 1992, their curiosity piqued by reading 254-82: ". ..it [should] be taken as a study, as a thing or condition in the experience of mankind - that this organization may give much to the world on one particular disturbance that has baffled the wise and the foolish.  This study on that called epilepsy - for three years! and you will be undefeatable!" Although the question remains as to whether or not they have become "undefeatable," it was the beginning of their understanding of the abdominal brain.

This time, the focus was to confirm the presence of a cold spot in the abdominal region which, Cayce said, could be found in every case of true epilepsy.  The current medical model maintains that epilepsy is an electrical storm in the cerebral cortex of the brain.  Why it occurs is largely unknown.  Cayce maintained that the why is located in the abdominal area in the lacteal ducts that absorb fat from the intestinal tract.  Adhesions in this area, he said, create a spasmodic wave when the body attempts to absorb fat from food.  These spasms are then transmitted to the adrenals and relayed through the nerve fibers to the base of the brain and finally to the cerebral cortex, causing the seizures associated with epilepsy.  Eventually, with enough repeated seizure activity, the nervous system becomes sensitized and lacteal spasms are no longer required for seizures to occur.

Although only three people participated in the program, each one had a spot that was colder than normal in the abdominal region.  One of the participants followed the treatment program rigorously, and at the end of the two-month period, her cold spot was significantly reduced and she was feeling better.  Another could not follow through as a result of significant life stresses.  The third returned with no obvious reduction in symptoms, but another type of improvement: The quality of her life had changed dramatically.  She had entered into a relationship and no longer thought of herself as just an epileptic.

This was very promising for the Meridian group, explains McMillin.  "Cayce said there are many forms of healing.  One form is cure, but there are others: for example, a decrease in symptoms, care, empowerment, the ability to appreciate life and better deal with illness, and soul development, reconnecting with the Source.  Cayce said people will get the kind of healing they're ready for in their development."

A program for migraine headaches followed last April.  "When Meridian began," explained Dr. Mein, "one of our goals was to figure out how to assess incoordination between the autonomic and cerebrospinal nervous systems.  Migraines seemed to be an excellent model with which to do that." Why?  Mainstream medicine maintains that migraines are a neurological phenomenon involving the brain.  While Cayce claimed that it clearly involves a nerve reflex, he said it originates in the intestinal tract, or the abdominal brain, most often as a result of incoordination in the nervous systems and an imbalance in circulation, or irritability of the intestines, or simply a toxic colon.  When offending foods enter the area, the vagus nerve sends what appears to be a signal for help to the base of the brain, spilling out to the trigeminal nerves that control sensation in the head.  Once again, after repeated nerve stimulation, the nervous system becomes sensitized, and stress or fatigue alone can bring on the familiar symptoms: sudden, intense pain in the head and sensory disturbances.

"Our focus," explained Richards, "was to measure autonomic physiology using computerized equipment to test heart rate, skin conductance, and to measure blood flow to determine temperature through the extremities." There was distinct incoordination in each of the participants, but "most remarkable," according to the researchers, was the dramatic change in the degree of incoordination over the 10-day treatment period, a change that correlated with the severity of the symptoms." Since then, a number of the participants have reported that they have improved and have decreased their medication.

In September, a program was held for people suffering from multiple sclerosis.  This gave the researchers an opportunity to focus on nervous system regeneration, one of Cayce's more extraordinary hypotheses and the group's initial goal when they first began.  Once again, Cayce maintained that MS originated in the abdominal brain with a lack of proper assimilation and digestion caused by a pathology in the liver, gall bladder, and/or gall duct.  This was said to create a lack of the hormones necessary for rebuilding the insulating tissue of the nerves and, in some cases, a lack of gold, which can cause nerve tissue to form plaques.  As a result, nerve impulses are short-circuited, and sufferers experience numbness, blurred vision, slurred speech, muscle spasms, and various levels of paralysis.

Autonomic testing turned up a strong relationship, according to Richards, between the degree to which the person was handicapped and the lack of coordination between the autonomic and cerebrospinal systems.  In addition, thermographic studies determined that participants all had cold spots on the upper abdomen.  At present, they are engaged in home treatment with an emphasis on the use of the wet cell, before returning for the follow-up program in November.
With a program for Parkinson's disease slated to follow, the researchers are only beginning the arduous task of compiling results.

Nonetheless, what Meridian has accomplished thus far is cause for celebration, says Dr. Nelson, "although the end is not even vaguely in sight.  We have all the other autoimmune disorders and the cancers and, of course, mental illness, which according to the readings was oftentimes created, maintained, and perpetuated by conditions in the body.  We also plan to examine the premises of osteopathy that have not been explored, such as the regulation of body processes by specific types of touch applied to the exterior of the body.  And that is only a sampling of our long-term goals."

Reading 1695-1 said that if we apply what has been given, "that thou hast in hand day by day the next step may be given thee." Although it's impossible to predict what the future win bring for Meridian's leading-edge research, its initial findings add solid proof that body, mind, and spirit are inseparably one.