Asymmetrical brain modulation of the immune response

Abstract

It is now well known that the central nervous system can regulate the immune system. Interestingly the two sides of the brain have been demonstrated to be differently involved in the modulation of immune responses. In rodents, lesions of right or left neocortex induced opposite effects on various immune parameters including mitogen-induced lymphoproliferation, interleukin-2 production, macrophage activation or natural killer cell activity. Furthermore in humans, left-handedness has been reported to be associated with a high incidence of immune disorders. Likewise in mice, the direction of a lateralized motor behavior, i.e., paw preference in a food reaching task, correlated with an asymmetrical pattern of brain organization, was shown to be associated with lymphocyte reactivity, natural killer cell activity and auto-antibody production. Conversely the immune system could send to the brain information that may be asymmetrically expressed. The experimental models for investigating asymmetrical brain modulation of the immune system may be useful for studying physiological, pathological and genetic aspects of neuroimmunomodulation.