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Psychoneuroimmunology
Author(s) -
ByrneDavis L. M. T.,
Vedhara K.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00069.x
Subject(s) - psychoneuroimmunology , psychology , intervention (counseling) , observational study , immune system , social psychology , medicine , immunology , psychiatry , pathology
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is concerned with the processes that mediate the relationships between psychological and social factors and disease or health. The focus of PNI is particularly the bidirectional relationships between these factors and the immune system, through nervous system and endocrine system pathways. This paper will provide an introduction to PNI. This will include a brief tour of the immune system and its measurement and the physiology of mind–body connections. Two pertinent questions will then arise: whether social and psychological factors can make healthy people sick and how these factors influence the course of diseases. These questions will be discussed using evidence from observational, experimental, and intervention studies.