Social psychoneuroimmunology: Understanding bidirectional links between social experiences and the immune system / Keely A. Muscatell — 2016 y.

Does the immune system have a “social life,” wherein our social experiences can affect and be affected by the activities of the immune system? Research in the nascent subfield of social psychoneuroimmunology suggests that the answer to this question is a resounding “yes” – there are profound bidirectional connections between social experiences and the immune system. Yet there are also vast opportunities for discovery in this new subfield. In this article, I briefly define and outline some coretenants of social psychoneuroimmunology (Fig. 1). I also highlight op-

portunities for future work in this area. Bringing together social psychological and psychoneuroimmunology research will undoubtedly lead to important discoveries about the interconnections between the immune system and social experience that will advance both basic science knowledge and understanding of health and well-being.