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Nature paper: Shocking new role found for the immune system

natasa778

Senior Member
Messages
1,774
In a startling discovery that raises fundamental questions about human behavior, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the immune system directly affects -- and even controls -- creatures' social behavior, such as their desire to interact with others. So could immune system problems contribute to an inability to have normal social interactions? The answer appears to be yes, and that finding could have great implications for neurological conditions such as autism-spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

"The brain and the adaptive immune system were thought to be isolated from each other, and any immune activity in the brain was perceived as sign of a pathology. And now, not only are we showing that they are closely interacting, but some of our behavior traits might have evolved because of our immune response to pathogens," explained Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, chairman of UVA's Department of Neuroscience. "It's crazy, but maybe we are just multicellular battlefields for two ancient forces: pathogens and the immune system. Part of our personality may actually be dictated by the immune system."

It was only last year that Kipnis, the director of UVA's Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, and his team discovered that meningeal vessels directly link the brain with the lymphatic system. That overturned decades of textbook teaching that the brain was "immune privileged," lacking a direct connection to the immune system. The discovery opened the door for entirely new ways of thinking about how the brain and the immune system interact.

The follow-up finding is equally illuminating, shedding light on both the workings of the brain and on evolution itself. ...

The UVA researchers have shown that a specific immune molecule, interferon gamma, seems to be critical for social behavior and that a variety of creatures, such as flies, zebrafish, mice and rats, activate interferon gamma responses when they are social. Normally, this molecule is produced by the immune system in response to bacteria, viruses or parasites. Blocking the molecule in mice using genetic modification made regions of the brain hyperactive, causing the mice to become less social. Restoring the molecule restored the brain connectivity and behavior to normal. In a paper outlining their findings, the researchers note the immune molecule plays a "profound role in maintaining proper social function."...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160713143156.htm
 

roller

wiggle jiggle
Messages
775
no.

our behavioural headquarter are the 'hunger hormones', the wording is misleading - sorry.

its neuropeptite y(y)
the ghrelin
the leptin
and all the others directly related.

they control/direct our behaviour.

and bottom line: bugs run the show anyways. not interferon gamma.

pls wake up, finally.
 
Messages
35
Location
Tucson, AZ
Very, very interesting article. Its fascinating how cytokine activity can be both good and bad. Such as in promoting deep sleep and normal tissue recovery from exercise as good versus creating malaise or autoimmunity as bad. I have also long felt I have no choice or control over my desire for socialization, and this inf-gamna finding makes perfect sense. I would also wager that we have much less control than we think, over all facets of life and so-called decisions, due to hidden involuntary physiologic processes similar to what the article discusses.


But how, as the article mentions, but doesn't explain, is normal inf-gamma activity restored? Or are the authors just saying an artificial blocking is ceased and then normal inf-gamma activity returns? Furthermore, what does it say when the immune system doesn't produce inf-gamma? Is it failing to produce other chemokines as well? Can this be considered immune deficiency, which would make immune deficiency a spectrum disease of sorts?
 

Paralee

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
USA
Sorry, maybe kind of off subject but desperation gives courage...... Could roller be right about hunger hormones? I have rarely been hungry in over 5-6 years. It would be so nice to want to eat.
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
People seem shocked every time it is discovered that our personality is dictated by biology. But, where else would personality come from?

It has been hypothesized for some time that eg 'sickness behavior' and depression are indeed behavioral responses to avoid infection and allow the immune system maximal energy to function. Nonetheless, it is intersting if we are now finding evidence to support these ideas.
 

frog_in_the_fog

Test Subject
Messages
253
Location
California
People seem shocked every time it is discovered that our personality is dictated by biology. But, where else would personality come from?
It's no secret that if you feel lousy, you will not want to do anything other than rest. If you have a weak immune system, you will tend to want to avoid crowds. So to us, these findings are hardly new.
 

natasa778

Senior Member
Messages
1,774
The so-called 'fever effect' is a well known phenomenon in autism, where one sees sudden and sharp improvements in social interaction and communication during periods of fever. It occurs in roughly 1/3 of affected individuals, including more severely affected. As one parent describes it, her son "visits them once or twice a year". Sometimes these improvements start a day or two before the fever kicks in. There are different theories and mechanistic explanations as to why/how this happens but imo interferon-gamma is very likely involved.
 

sarah darwins

Senior Member
Messages
2,508
Location
Cornwall, UK
Proof of nothing, but a curious byroad .. this morning I came across a mention of the Victorian artist Richard Dadd. He's one of those whose work you may know, even if the name is unfamiliar. I looked up his Wiki bio and it's both sad and fascinating:

In July 1842, Sir Thomas Phillips, the former mayor of Newport, chose Dadd to accompany him as his draftsman on an expedition through Europe to Greece, Turkey, Southern Syria and finally Egypt. In November of that year they spent a gruelling two weeks in Southern Syria, passing from Jerusalem to Jordan and returning across the Engaddi wilderness. Toward the end of December, while travelling up the Nile by boat, Dadd underwent a dramatic personality change, becoming delusional, increasingly violent, and believing himself to be under the influence of the Egyptian god Osiris. His condition was initially thought to be sunstroke.[3]

Madness and incarceration[edit]

The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, oil on canvas, 26 inches x 21 inches, 1855–64, Tate Gallery, London.
On his return in the spring of 1843, he was diagnosed to be of unsound mind and was taken by his family to recuperate in the countryside village of Cobham, Kent. In August of that year, having become convinced that his father was the Devilin disguise, Dadd killed him with a knife and fled to France.[4] En route to Paris, Dadd attempted to kill another tourist with a razor but was overpowered and arrested by police. Dadd confessed to killing his father and was returned to England, where he was committed to the criminal department of Bethlem psychiatric hospital (also known as Bedlam). Here and subsequently at the newly-created Broadmoor Hospital, Dadd was cared for (and encouraged to continue painting) in an enlightened manner by Drs William Wood, William Orange and Sir W. Charles Hood.[5]

Dadd probably suffered from a form of paranoid schizophrenia.[6] Two of his siblings were similarly afflicted, while a third had "a private attendant" for unknown reasons.[3
- full article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dadd

The dramatic personality change could indeed have been emerging paranoid schizophrenia, as seems to be taken for granted in all the accounts I found, but you have to wonder about that boat trip on the Nile and symptoms that were taken for sunstroke. Could a parasitic or other infection be solely responsible for the personality change? Or did an infection trigger or worsen the manifestation of nascent mental illness?

Stories like this one are not so uncommon. Seems we have an awful long way to go before we really start understanding this stuff.
 

anciendaze

Senior Member
Messages
1,841
...no free will... or no much... ?
As a lapsed physicist I can report that individual electrons seem to have free will. At least they have strong limits on predictable behavior. I can also report that the apparent oxymoron "deterministic chaos" is still subject to considerable research. Before you get your knickers in a twist over human free will, you need to think carefully about what you mean in simpler cases.
 
Messages
10,157
The UVA researchers have shown that a specific immune molecule, interferon gamma, seems to be critical for social behavior and that a variety of creatures, such as flies, zebrafish, mice and rats, activate interferon gamma responses when they are social. Normally, this molecule is produced by the immune system in response to bacteria, viruses or parasites. Blocking the molecule in mice using genetic modification made regions of the brain hyperactive, causing the mice to become less social. Restoring the molecule restored the brain connectivity and behavior to normal. In a paper outlining their findings, the researchers note the immune molecule plays a "profound role in maintaining proper social function."...

I am having a bit of problem with the use of the word "social" when it comes to flies, zebra fish etc. Social is defined as living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation. So yes many animals need each other for survival which a lot different from being 'social' -- we can live in isolation and still survive these days. So I am reading this research as the blocking of the molecule resulted in the mice isolating themselves more or being less social. It seems like a huge leap to go on to suggest that the immune molecule plays a 'profound role in maintaining proper social function' and how do you define proper social function in mice and how does this translate to humans. I would say in animals it's about survival rather than being 'social'. It's interesting research but it's really annoying when the headlines scream out 'shocking new role...' The research could lead to maybe isolating what is contributing or causing illnesses where social function is impaired.

I personally think, we humans, have a very very long way to go in understanding the brain, immune system etc -- tip of the iceberg.

I have a picture in my head now of a bunch of flies sitting around drinking tea :rofl:
 

JohnCB

Immoderate
Messages
351
Location
England
It's no secret that if you feel lousy, you will not want to do anything other than rest. If you have a weak immune system, you will tend to want to avoid crowds. So to us, these findings are hardly new.

And the term lousy derived from how you feel when you are infested with lice. Generally, in the developed world at least, it is now unusual to be infest with lice, but we still use that as an analogy for how we feel with other pathogens.