HoldsUp

Charles Raison

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Charles Raison, M.D., is a professor at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Founding Director of the Center for Compassion Studies at the University of Arizona. His research examines the relationships between inflammation, stress, and the development of depression. His published work focuses on interventions for major depressive disorder and mental well-being, including whole-body hyperthermia, psilocybin-assisted therapy, and compassion-centered practices.

68 claims checked on air: 2 context 7 overstated 50 supported 9 unverified 7 flagged

What they said on air - context

3 citing their own research

0:20:21needs contextmoderateDr. Charles Raison on Depression, the Immune-Brain Interface

Studies by Hugo Critchley's group showed that administering typhoid vaccine to healthy individuals induces acute dysphoria, increased feelings of social isolation, and changes in depressive brain circuitry.

"the folks in London, Hugo Critchley's group, they tended to use typhoid, and they showed it, right? You know, you give normal folks a shot of typhoid, which activates a sort of acute, mild—it's not, you know, feels like a sledgehammer, right? I mean, this is more like a ping. But you do that, and yeah, people report feeling more socially isolated, they feel more dysphoric, and you see changes in their brain that sort of speak to depressive brain functioning." (said at 0:20:21)

Hugo Critchley's group (Harrison et al., 2009) demonstrated in double-blind, randomized crossover trials that administering typhoid vaccination to healthy volunteers induces mild systemic inflammation (elevated IL-6), acute mood reduction/dysphoria, and altered activity and connectivity in brain regions implicated in depression (specifically the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and mesolimbic circuits). However, the specific demonstration of acute inflammation increasing feelings of social disconnection and loneliness was established using endotoxin challenge models (e.g., Eisenberger et al., 2010), rather than Critchley's typhoid fMRI studies.

1:06:45needs contextmoderateDr. Charles Raison on Depression, the Immune-Brain Interface

In Japanese Zen marathon practice (kaihōgyō), participants undergo a 7-year training protocol culminating in running over 50 miles per day for 100 straight days, with only 48 people completing it since the 1850s.

"They have this seven-year crazy, crazy, crazy running protocol training where, at the end of it, people run more than 50 miles a day for a hundred days straight. And many people die doing this. And because they have to run carrying all their books, and they run in these crazy wooden shoes, and only 48 people have successfully done it since the 1850s." (said at 1:06:45)

The core outline of the *kaihōgyō* practice is broadly accurate: the full *sennichi kaihōgyō* (1,000-day circumambulation) is carried out across seven years on Mount Hiei, culminating in year seven with 100 consecutive days covering roughly 84 km (~52 miles) per day (the Kyoto Great Circuit). Historical records document approximately 46 to 50 completions since the late 19th century (1885). However, the claim contains several inaccuracies: the practice belongs to Tendai Buddhism (headquartered at Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei), not Zen Buddhism; practitioners traditionally wear handwoven straw sandals (*waraji*), not wooden shoes; and the practice is a walking/chanting pilgrimage to sacred sites rather than running while carrying all their books.

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