INABIS '98 - Stress, Learned Helplessness, and Brain Interleukin-1

Stress, Learned Helplessness, and Brain Interleukin-1
Maier, S. F. (Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, USA)
Watkins, L. R. (Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, USA)

Contact Person: Steven F. Maier (smaier@psych.colorado.edu)

Abstract

The brain and the immune system form a bi-directional communication pathway in which infection and injury in the periphery lead to immune signals to the CNS, and the CNS in turn orchestrates host defensive responses which in turn involve alterations in the periphery. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is involved in this loop both in the periphery as a key signal to the CNS and in the CNS itself. Data will be reviewed which indicate that stressors may be able to activate this same loop that is activated by infectious agent, perhaps by inducing IL-1 in brain. Furthermore, this activation does not seem to be sensitive to stressor controllability, and so may be induced by physical properties of stressors per se.

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Presentation Number SAmaier0245
Keywords: Interleukin-1, brain, stress, helplessness, immunity

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Maier, S. F.; Watkins, L. R.; (1998). Stress, Learned Helplessness, and Brain Interleukin-1. Presented at INABIS '98 - 5th Internet World Congress on Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, Canada, Dec 7-16th. Invited Symposium. Available at URL http://www.mcmaster.ca/inabis98/anisman/maier0245/index.html