psychoneuroimmunology

English

Etymology

From psycho- +‎ neuroimmunology.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌsʌɪkəʊnʊəɹəʊɪmjʊˈnɒlədʒi/

Noun

psychoneuroimmunology (uncountable)

1. The study of the interactions between behavioural, neural, endocrine and immune functions.
   • 1991 December 8, Liz Galst, “Gay Male Incest Survivors, Safer Sex, and AIDS”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 21, page 10:

     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.

   • 1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 152:

     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.

Synonyms

• psychoendoneuroimmunology
• psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology

Related terms

• psychoneuroimmune