Abstract

Mind-body interactions have been the subject of debate for many generations. However, it is only in recent years that these interactions have become the subject of rigorous scientific enquiry. In recent years there have been major advances in our understanding of the stress process, the endocrine and immune systems, and the methodologies used to investigate these phenomena. As a result, we have witnessed an explosion of research activity in the field known as psychoneuroimmunology - the study of psychological processes and their interaction with the nervous and immune systems. This book presents an up to date account of the human evidence in this field. The first three chapters introduce the reader to the biological systems at the heart of mind/body interactions and the methods used to investigate them. Thereafter, each chapter deals with a separate clinical entity; examining the theoretical basis for mind/body interactions; the associated empirical evidence and directions for future research. With each chapter written by international experts in the field, it provides the reader with an up to date account of the research evidence in the rapidly evolving field of psychoneuroimmunology.