Positive thinking might help the brain support the immune system in a non-invasive way, according to a study published in Nature Medicine.
Israeli researchers of of Tel Aviv University set out to investigate how thoughts and feelings can directly affect our physical well-being.
“Although clinical benefits of positive expectations from medical treatment (as in the case of placebo responses) have been extensively documented, the underlying neural mechanism of such a mind-body link has only begun to be elucidated,” the researchers wrote.
The team trained 85 people to activate a part of the brain linked to reward and positive expectations, which animal studies had shown can affect immunity, by recalling positive memories.
Participants were given real-time feedback using functional MRI, so they could learn which strategies best stimulated the brain’s reward network.
After four training sessions, the people were given a vaccine against hepatitis B, and had their blood monitored for four weeks after the injection.
It was found that the people who had learned to better activate their brain with positive thinking had larger increases in protective antibodies in their blood, although the efficacy of the vaccine was not measured.
The authors suggested that the approach “may be used to investigate new ways to boost immune processes, with potential relevance for fields such as cancer immunotherapy and chronic inflammation”.
“Thus, we may harness the natural capacities of our mind and brain to heal our bodies in times of need,” they concluded.
