Conditioning of the immune response.
Experimental studies in humans and experimental animals document the acquisition and extinction of classically conditioned alterations of different parameters of humoral- and cell-mediated immune responses. Although the aversive effects of cyclophosphamide in a taste aversion learning paradigm has been the most frequently used model, conditioned immunomodulatory effects are not confined to this conditioning procedure, and they are not limited to cyclophosphamide or, for that matter, the use of immunomodulating drugs as unconditioned stimuli. Conditioned changes in immunologic reactivity have also been found to modulate the progression of spontaneously-developing or experimentally-induced pathophysiological processes in experimental animals. The available data on the immunoregulatory effects of conditioning indicate that the immune system, like other systems operating in the interests of homeostasis, is integrated with other physiological processes and is therefore influenced by and capable of influencing the brain.
Ader
R
R
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY 14642.
Cohen
N
N
D000818:Animals; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*