The Inflamed Feeling: The Brain's Role in Immune Defence

Being sick and being afraid of strangers both represent a behavioral drive that evolved in our ancestors to combat the most dangerous threat to survival: infection. These feelings can cause anxiety and avoidance, and having a too high or too low sensitivity to inner or outer disease signals is connected to mental and somatic disorders. Mats Lekander explains the science behind perceived health in his book, using Barbie dolls, visual illusions, personal experiences, placebo, hypochondriacs, and historical anecdotes.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 25 January 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The connection between feeling sick and being afraid of strangers is rooted in our evolutionary history. These emotions serve as a behavioral drive that evolved to protect us from the most significant threat to survival: infection. Understanding and responding to these feelings is crucial for maintaining good health. When our bodies signal illness, we are engaging in survival strategies that have developed over centuries. These strategies include urges to rest, pay attention to pain, express self-pity, and focus inward. These bodily messages aid in immune defense, as they conserve energy that can be directed toward recovery.

For our ancestors, simply changing behavior once they were sick was not enough. They also needed defensive mechanisms to prevent infection in the first place. As a result, tools for detecting illness in others evolved. This is why superficial signs of ill-health, or even the mere perception of a person with a foreign bacterial culture, can trigger anxiety and avoidance. It is not surprising that having an overly high or low sensitivity to inner or outer disease signals is linked to mental and somatic disorders.

In his book, Mats Lekander delves into the science behind perceived health, employing a range of engaging and relatable examples. Through the use of Barbie dolls, visual illusions, personal experiences, placebo, hypochondriacs, and historical anecdotes, he explains why we feel healthy or sick. Lekander situates his insights within the latest neuroscience and psychoneuroimmunology, providing a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms at play when our brains attempt to interpret our internal worlds. The result is an absorbing and thought-provoking book that remains highly relevant in our contemporary times.

Weight: 480g
Dimension: 233 x 156 x 13 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198863441