Post by the Scribe on Nov 17, 2021 6:55:30 GMT
Psychoneuroimmunology
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080430767037803
Author links open overlay panelR.Ader
doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03780-3Get rights and content
Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the interactions among behavioral, neural and endocrine, and immune processes. The brain communicates with the immune system through autonomic nervous system and neuroendocrine activity. Both pathways generate signals that are perceived by the immune system via receptors on the surface of lymphocytes and other immune cells. Conversely, an activated immune system generates chemical signals (cytokines) that are perceived by the nervous system. Thus, bidirectional pathways connect the brain and the immune system and provide the foundation for behavioral influences on immune functions. Pavlovian conditioning can suppress or enhance immune responses and stressful life experiences and emotional states (e.g., depression) are generally immunosuppressive. These effects are biologically meaningful in that they appear to be implicated in altering the development and/or progression of immunologically mediated disease processes. The direction and/or magnitude of the effects of behavioral factors in modulating immune responses, however, depend upon the nature of the behavioral circumstances, the nature of the antigenic stimulation, and the temporal relationship between them; the immune response and when it is measured; a variety of host factors; and the interactions among these variables. Documentation of pathways and functional relationships between the brain and the immune system reinforces the hypothesis that immune changes could mediate some of the effects of psychosocial factors on health and disease.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080430767037803
Author links open overlay panelR.Ader
doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03780-3Get rights and content
Psychoneuroimmunology is the study of the interactions among behavioral, neural and endocrine, and immune processes. The brain communicates with the immune system through autonomic nervous system and neuroendocrine activity. Both pathways generate signals that are perceived by the immune system via receptors on the surface of lymphocytes and other immune cells. Conversely, an activated immune system generates chemical signals (cytokines) that are perceived by the nervous system. Thus, bidirectional pathways connect the brain and the immune system and provide the foundation for behavioral influences on immune functions. Pavlovian conditioning can suppress or enhance immune responses and stressful life experiences and emotional states (e.g., depression) are generally immunosuppressive. These effects are biologically meaningful in that they appear to be implicated in altering the development and/or progression of immunologically mediated disease processes. The direction and/or magnitude of the effects of behavioral factors in modulating immune responses, however, depend upon the nature of the behavioral circumstances, the nature of the antigenic stimulation, and the temporal relationship between them; the immune response and when it is measured; a variety of host factors; and the interactions among these variables. Documentation of pathways and functional relationships between the brain and the immune system reinforces the hypothesis that immune changes could mediate some of the effects of psychosocial factors on health and disease.