Immune System Can Affect Social Behaviour

In the future, these findings may lead to new treatments for people with social disorders.

The researchers pointed to a specific immune molecule, interferon gamma, which seems to be critical to social behaviors in a variety of species, including mice and flies. However, they will start to interact normally if signals are opened again. The rodents became hyperactive and displayed inappropriate social behavior. The importance of this research lies in the study of neurological diseases such as autism, Alzheimer’s disease and even multiple sclerosis. It’s insane, 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”.

Previous investigations at the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) found the brain to be connected to the immune system by vessels they didn’t know existed. When we interacted with others, it’s suggested that our immune systems would respond so that we could protect ourselves from any diseases that could be spread. “Published in Nature, these findings could have great implications for neurological diseases 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”, Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, chairman of the University of Virginia’s Department of Neuroscience and author of the study, said in a news release.

These studies uncovered a hidden connection between T-cell mediated immune signalling and social brain function.

“For the first time we have a platform capable of systematically investigating the complex connections between immune signaling and various brain functions”, Litvak said. Because this molecule runs and tells the rest of the immune system when germs are about, they were testing what would happen when that interaction was shut down.

The follow-up finding is equally illuminating, shedding light on both the workings of the brain and on evolution itself. Study researchers have found an important role of interferon gamma (IFN-γ), a cytokine secreted by T lymphocytes, in promoting social brain functions. The interferon-y response is typically created by the immune system as a response to viruses, bacteria or parasites. Restoring the molecule restored the brain connectivity and behavior to normal. Social activities include foraging, gathering, hunting and even sexual reproduction.

“So you need to be social, but [in doing so] you have a higher chance of spreading pathogens”. The results show that there is an evolutionary link between social behavior and an efficient immunity response.

The researchers noted that a malfunctioning immune system may cause “social deficits in numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders”.

This link between the immune response and the brain could explain a lot – for years, scientists had suspected that conditions such as depression, autism, and schizophrenia might somehow be triggered by the immune system, and the research offered a possible explanation for how that could be happening.