Probing the mind-body connection to learn how the brain controls immune responses

The part of the brain involved in creating a mental self-image of the body can encode and remember past inflammatory immune responses, according to a new study in the journal Cell.

Previous studies have shown how the brain can be conditioned to create responses in the body. 

Examples include Pavlov's dogs, which were trained to associate a bell with dinner time, and salivated when the bell was rung, or the placebo effect, in which a fake treatment can have result in real beneficial effect.

To probe this mind-body connection, the researchers conducted a series of fascinating experiments in mice that revealed that the brain stores memories of specific immune responses to control inflammation in the body. 

Asya Rolls, an associate professor of neuroimmunology at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, oversaw the study. 

She and her colleagues found that the part of the brain called the insular cortex becomes active when inflammation arises in the body. Using molecular switches to turn neurons in the insular cortex on or off, they could recreate the same inflammatory response or damp it down. 

Rolls told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald that she hopes these findings will translate to humans to help individuals with recurring inflammatory conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome or psoriasis.

Produced and written by Sonya Buyting. Click on the link at the top of the page to hear the interview with Prof. Asya Rolls.