Psychoneuroimmunology

Abstract

The field of psychoneuroimmunology was first pioneered over 25 years ago in an effort to understand the influence of emotional states on human health and resistance to disease. Current explication of this concept has been refined as interdisciplinary research has begun to define the pathways and mechanisms of communication between the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system. Publication of the second edition of<i>Psychoneuroimmunology</i>substantively updates the 1981 edition and summarizes emergent new data that document reciprocal, bidirectional relations between the brain and the immune system. In this volume, edited by a behavioral psychologist (Ader), a neuroscientist (Felten), and an immunologist (Cohen), a remarkable series of contributions from over 70 scientists has been collected to provide a comprehensive yet focused analysis of behavioral-neural-endocrineimmune interactions. Areas of general research have been organized into four sections: the first and second sections document the neural connections and endocrine influences on