​3 BIG TAKEAWAYS FROM THE RESEARCH

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  • Cognitive and Social Abilities Rely on Fine-Tuned Equilibrium of Innate & Adaptive Immune Responses (2019)

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
  • 2Inserm, U955, Institut Mondor de la Recherche Biomédicale, Créteil, France.
  • 3Fondation FondaMental, Créteil, France.
  • 4AP-HP, Department of Psychiatry of Mondor University Hospital, DHU PePsy, University of Paris-Est-Créteil, Créteil, France.
  • 5Department of Neurology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany. [email protected].​

CRITICAL NEW UNDERSTANDING -- Excerpt from Abstract

Our cognitive and social abilities rely on a highly sensitive and fine-tuned equilibrium of immune responses that involve both innate and adaptive immunity.

Autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, infection and psychosocial stress can tip the scales towards disruption of higher-order networks.

However, not only classical neuroinflammatory diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and autoimmune encephalitis, are caused by immune dysregulation that affects CNS function.

Recent insight indicates that similar processes are involved in psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder and depression.

Pathways that are common to these disorders include microglial activation, pro-inflammatory cytokines, molecular mimicry, anti-neuronal autoantibodies, self-reactive T cells and disturbance of the blood-brain barrier.

These discoveries challenge our traditional classification of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

​New clinical paths are required to identify subgroups of neuropsychiatric disorders that are phenotypically distinct but pathogenically related and to pave the way for mechanism-based immune treatments.  
  • Innate Immune Cells are Regulators of Brain Development & Behavioral Function​​​​ (2018)

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
  • 2Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
  • 3Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
  • 4Neuroscience Graduate Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.​​  ​ ​
​The Vagus Nerve serves as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders.  (2018)

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
  • 2Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.