Meaning of psychoneuroimmunology | Babel Free

Definitions

The study of the interactions between behavioural, neural, endocrine and immune functions.

uncountable

Examples

“It's not bad enough that being sexually abused as a kid puts you at higher risk⟳ for acquiring HIV infection, incest and other child sexual abuse may have⟳ quite a negative impact on your health. This information comes to us from the field of psychoneuroimmunology, a branch of medicine that studies the impact of emotions, thought-processes and behavior on health. From research⟳ that indicates loneliness, depression, feelings of hopelessness, long term stress⟳ and lack of social support⟳ result⟳ in impaired immune functioning, it is possible to extrapolate that incest survivors, as a group, face⟳ the AIDS crisis at a significant physical disadvantage.”

“This topic is known as psychoneuroimmunology, and it is slowly inching its way into fashion, mostly resisted by doctors and mostly hyped by faith healers of one kind or another.”

CEFR level