Remembering immunity: Neuronal ensembles in the insular cortex encode and retrieve specific immune responses

Abstract

Increasing evidence indicates that the brain regulates peripheral immunity. Yet, it remains unclear whether and how the brain represents the state of the immune system. Here, we show that immune-related information is stored in the brain’s insular cortex (InsCtx). Using activity-dependent cell labeling in mice (FosTRAP), we captured neuronal ensembles in the InsCtx that were active under two different inflammatory conditions (DSS-induced colitis and Zymosan-induced peritonitis). Chemogenetic reactivation of these neuronal ensembles was sufficient to broadly retrieve the inflammatory state under which these neurons were captured. Thus, we show that the brain can encode and initiate specific immune responses, extending the classical concept of immunological memory to neuronal representations of immunity.

Adrenergic Tone as an Intermediary in the Temperament Syndrome Associated With Flight Speed in Beef Cattle

“…To emphasis this distinction, Pavlovian conditioning of immune function is also termed behavioral conditioning. Behavioral conditioning entails neural processing (Koren et al, 2020) and provides a further example of the anticipatory regulation Sterling and Eyer termed allostasis (Sterling and Eyer, 1988). Post-natal learning and experience have been found to induce plasticity of temperament in a number of species (Lyons et al, 1988;Schuett et al, 2013;Stamps and Biro, 2016;Moldoff and Westneat, 2017;Capitanio and Mason, 2019).…”