The Heart as a Psychoneuroendocrine and Immunoregulatory Organ

Abstract

The heart can be viewed not just as muscle pump but also as an important checkpoint for a complex network of nervous, endocrine, and immune signals. The heart is able to process neurological signals independently from the brain and to crosstalk with the endocrine and immune systems. The heart communicates with the psyche through the neuro-endocrine-immune system in a highly integrated way, in order to maintain the homeostasis of the whole body with peculiarities specific to males and females.

Keywords: Alarmin; Beta-blocker; Brain-heart axis; Cardiokine; Emotion; Heart-brain interaction; Immunoregulatory function; Mental stress; Neuroendocrine regulation; Pattern recognition receptor; Psychic factors in heart disease; Psychosocial stress; Review; Sex-specific analysis; Toll-like receptor.