Serotonin – A link between disgust and immunity?
Abstract
Immune systems maintain the integrity of organisms by recognising and attacking foreign substances and/or pathogens. However, immune defences can only take place following direct contact with threats. Disgust can prevent infection before contact with potential pathogens: we propose that disgust is an evolved nervous response to a signal reliably co-occurring with infectious environmental disease threats, which motivates behaviour leading to the avoidance of infection. We hypothesize that disgust and immunity form a defensive continuum with overlaps: disgust acts prior to contact with the infectious agent and prevents it from getting into the body; emesis (vomiting) gets it out once inside the gastrointestinal tract, before penetration of the body boundaries; and immunity expels or kills infectious threats following penetration of the body proper. We further propose that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) might be the link between disgust and immunity. 5-HT plays a central role in the induction of the emetic reflex and is possibly involved in the development of learned aversion; it is also a signal used by immune cells and modulates both innate and acquired immunity. We therefore propose 5-HT might mediate the interaction between these two defensive mechanisms.
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Self-other distinctions do not first arise with language and culture; selfhood originates with the immune system, and the first social other is the micro-social other rather than the macro-social other.
“Selfhood originates with the immune system.”
From Disgusting Bodies, Disgusting Religion: The Biology of Tantra (2011) · cites this paper as Rubio-Godoy et al. 2007
The immune system and the emotion of disgust form a neurological continuum.
“The immune system and the emotion of disgust form a neurological continuum (Rubio-Godoy et al. 2007).”
From Disgusting Bodies, Disgusting Religion: The Biology of Tantra (2011) · cites this paper as Rubio-Godoy et al. 2007
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- Authors
- Rubio-Godoy, M., Aunger, R., & Curtis, V.
- Affiliations
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- ORCID
- Aunger, R.
- Venue
- Medical Hypotheses
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-01
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 61-66
- ISSN
- 0306-9877 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2135617462
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medical Hypotheses (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Keywords
- serotonin, disgust, immunity, infection avoidance, vomiting, vomiting reflex, learned aversion, innate immunity, adaptive immunity, immune cells, evolutionary psychology, infectious diseases
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Avoidance Learning, Brain, Escape Reaction, Humans, Immunity, Innate, Models, Neurological, Reflex, Serotonin, Models, Immunological
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