The nervous system and the immune system have something in common. Each has evolved to react quickly to environmental cues. Because the nervous system is able to detect some of these cues - say, a characteristic odor signaling a pathogen’s presence - at a distance, it sometimes can sense trouble earlier than the immune system.  So it makes sense that the two systems might talk to one another. Stanford geneticists have shown that, indeed, they do.

Tagged: genetics, immunity, Human Health, Medicine