
The brain's reward circuitry regulates immunity - danielmorozoff
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n8/full/nm.4157.html
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apathy
The actual paper is at
[http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n8/full/nm.4133.html](http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v22/n8/full/nm.4133.html)

I was going to see if it could be torn apart but

1) Shen-Orr is a very thorough, un-full-of-shit researcher,

2) I like how they used CyTOF in a novel capacity here, and

3) depressed people do tend to get sick more often.

That said, some of the largest divergences between mice and primates are in
the brain, so it would be wise to exercise caution when generalizing these
findings to humans.

If you need the full paper and have misplaced your subscription credentials, I
hope you would not resort to plugging the DOI into [http://sci-
hub.bz](http://sci-hub.bz) like so:

[http://sci-hub.bz/10.1038/nm.4133](http://sci-hub.bz/10.1038/nm.4133)

Because that would be wrong. Publishers need hot tubs in their 3rd bathrooms,
just like Deans and coaches do.

The methods section is included in that version (papers without methods are
like dehydrated water). Read it for yourself, don't listen to some blowhard on
the Interwebs (i.e., me).

~~~
amelius
> un-full-of-shit researcher

Not a very strong statement ;)

~~~
mannykannot
That depends on who wrote it, and other context.

~~~
pessimizer
It's like saying un-poisonous food.

~~~
apathy
Well, that depends on the dose, doesn't it?

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erdevs
This is an amazing study and a great step forward in our understanding of
biology and previously mysterious mind-body connections. Besides helping to
explain at least part of the classic Placebo Effect, it also opens the door to
a great deal of potential both for making existing treatments more efficacious
(by supplementing them with reward system intervention) and for new treatments
(utilizing the brain reward system to influence immunological response).

The study seems very well-constructed and powerful. They demonstrate that
direct stimulation of reward neuralchemistry produces specific and varied
immune system responses, and also discover the pathways for this effect. They
demonstrate causality well and also show that if the specific pathway they
identify (the sympathetic nervous system connecting to lymphatic cells) is
blocked, the increased immunological response no longer follows the neural
reward stimulation. This seems really, really well done and it's high-impact
science.

Upon reading the study, I wondered what might have created this mind-body
link, in evolutionary terms. It turns out the authors considered this question
as well. From the SciHub piece on this paper: _" Many activities that are
known to stimulate reward-system signaling in the VTA, including engaging in
sex, socializing and traveling, markedly increase exposure to pathogens.
Therefore, it can be envisioned, as the authors suggest, that coupling the
reward center to the immune system would offer a selective advantage, which
helps to explain the intertwining of these two systems from an evolutionary
perspective."_

Really cool stuff!

~~~
xjay
So there's basically a social selection sub-system running in the background.

Perhaps this sub-system extends to people (unknowingly) "outing" themselves to
other instances of the sub-system--should they become something akin to free
radicals, or a negative factor to it.

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danielmorozoff
For those interested in the actual paper as opposed to the news writeup.

Nature:
[http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/nm/journal/v2...](http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/nm/journal/v22/n8/full/nm.4133.html)

Scihub: [http://sci-hub.cc/10.1038/nm.4133](http://sci-hub.cc/10.1038/nm.4133)

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swalsh
Wish i could read the actual paper. I've been in a really low spot for almost
a year. The startup I was working at went under, and I took a job I hate.
Every morning I'm sick to my stomach thinking about stepping into that office,
and all day long I find it increasingly hard to actually get work done. I have
no motivation. As my depression has gotten worse, I've become constantly sick.
At first I thought it was because my son was in daycare, but my wife seems to
avoid most of it. Just the other day my son got foot and mouth disease,
something common in children but rare in adults. Of course my wife is fine,
but I somehow get it.

~~~
retox
I thought it had been conclusively shown that stress reduces the ability of
our immune system to fight off disease. Start looking for another job, take
some time off or spend more time on a hobby if you're able. Easier said that
done most of the time but you owe it to yourself and those close to you. Hope
you pull through.

Here's a link I could grab before the edit window closed;
[http://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.aspx](http://www.apa.org/research/action/immune.aspx)

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achille
That's a pretty neat study. Essentially they show how the placebo effect can
have such a big impact on health.

Getting medicine treatment -> Rewards the brain -> Leads to increased
production of antibodies -> Patient is healthier.

~~~
xjay
Perhaps it's just part of an ancient social ritual--where the sub-system
recognizes the doctor type (basically a checkpoint in the system) as an
authoritative verification of usefulness to society.

My imagination is running wild at the moment..

~~~
mrob
Or alternatively, the presence of social support means you're not in any
immediate danger of starvation so you can afford to assign some more energy to
running the immune system.

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metasean
Paywalled - my brain's reward system feels like it was kicked _hard_ \- so if
I get sick next week, can I blame my poor immunity and susequent sickness on
nature.com's paywall?

~~~
msane
That seems like a comment for reddit.

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danielvf
This effect has been observed for thousands of years - an ancient proverb says
“A joyful heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the
bones.”

~~~
Lxr
The novel part is causality - obviously sick people are less happy but this
demonstrates cause and effect.

~~~
danielvf
That causualty is the whole point of the old proverb. Being happy makes you
healthier, being sad makes you sicker.

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kofejnik
paywalled

~~~
Karunamon
Scihub: [http://sci-hub.cc/10.1038/nm.4157](http://sci-hub.cc/10.1038/nm.4157)

