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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine pp 1–2Cite as

Neuroimmunology

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Definition

This term refers to the interdisciplinary field merging neurology, immunology, and aspects of neuroscience. It is a scientific and clinical domain. Scientifically, neuroimmunology tries to understand the bidirectional links between the nervous and immune systems and their implications to illnesses. Clinically, various “classical” neuroimmune diseases (e.g., multiple sclerosis – MS) and recently more diseases are being recognized as being influenced by both the nervous and immune systems, including cancer and coronary heart disease. The biological underpinnings of neuroimmunology include the descending pathways from the brain to the immune system, manifested by innervation of lymph nodes, effects of stress hormones on immunity, and the presence of neurotransmitter receptors on immune cells (Dantzer et al. 2000). In parallel, ascending pathways include the vagus nerve, expressing receptors for interleukin-1, brain regions lacking the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and a...

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References and Further Readings

  • Compston, A., & Coles, A. (2002). Multiple sclerosis. The Lancet, 359, 1221–1231.

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  • Dantzer, R., Konsman, J. P., Bluthé, R. M., & Kelley, K. W. (2000). Neural and humoral pathways of communication from the immune system to the brain: Parallel or convergent? Autonomic Neuroscience, 85, 60–65.

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  • Gidron, Y., Perry, H., & Glennie, M. (2005). The Vagus may inform the brain about sub-clinical tumours and modulate them: An hypothesis. The Lancet Oncology, 6, 245–248.

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  • Gidron, Y., Kupper, N., Kwaijtaal, M., Winter, J., & Denollet, J. (2007). Vagus-brain communication in atherosclerosis-related inflammation: A neuroimmunomodulation perspective of CAD. Atherosclerosis, 195, e1–e9.

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  • Gidron, Y., De Couck, M., Van Laethem, J. L., Schallier, D., De Greve, J., Mareshall, R. (2016). Paper to be presented at the PCS 2nd International Lung Cancer Symposium, Budapest.

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  • Schwartz, M., & Moalem, G. (2001). Beneficial immune activity after CNS injury: Prospects for vaccination. Journal of Neuroimmunology, 113, 185–192.

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  • Tracey, K. J. (2009). Reflex control of immunity. Nature Reviews Immunology, 9, 418–428.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SCALab, Lille 3 University and Siric Oncollile, Lille, France

    Yori Gidron

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  1. Yori Gidron
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Correspondence to Yori Gidron .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Gidron, Y. (2016). Neuroimmunology. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1601-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1601-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

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