Cited by 300Tryptophan and brain disordersStress Responses and CortisolNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Bi-directional immune–brain communication: implications for understanding stress, pain, and cognition

Maier, Steven F·2003·Brain Behavior and Immunity

Abstract

The immune system and the central nervous system form a bi-directional communication network. The critical roles of pro-inflammatory cytokines in both the periphery and the nervous system are discussed. In the periphery, these cytokines initiate the processes that signal the brain that immune activation has occurred, and communicate this information over both neural and blood-borne routes. The arrival of these signals in the central nervous system induces a neural cascade that includes the de novo induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The functions of these cytokines in the nervous system are discussed, and it is argued that they play a key role in regulating the neural control of immune processes in the periphery. In addition, it is argued that these cytokines play a variety of other roles, and some implications of the cytokine network for understanding stress, behavior, sensory processing, mood, and cognition are described. The overall argument is that because brain-mediated host defense involves behavioral, sensory, mood, and cognitive alterations, immune activation, and immune products such as the cytokines can have a pervasive effect on these functions. Finally, these phenomena are placed in an evolutionary perspective.

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Crossref · 10.1016/s0889-1591(03)00032-1

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Authors
Maier, S. F.
Affiliations
University of Colorado Boulder (US)
Corresponding author
Maier, Steven F
Venue
Brain Behavior and Immunity
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2003-04
Volume
17
Issue
2
Pages
69-85
ISSN
0889-1591 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2081694980
Cited by
300
References
140
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 19
FWCI
5.38
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain Behavior and Immunity (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
inflammatory cytokines, neuroinflammation, stress, pain, cognition, mood, sensory processing, evolutionary perspective
MeSH terms
Brain, Cognition, Humans, Pain, Stress, Physiological, Neuroimmunomodulation

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