Psychology 2036A/B Chapter 3: Psychology of Physical Health and Illness Chapter #3- Psychoneuroimmunology

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2036A/B
• Professor: Yves Bureau

Document Summary

Psychology of physical health and illness chapter #3: psychoneuroimmunology. Psychoneuroimmunology (pni: pni, the study of the relationship between psychological states and the functioning of the immune system, psychology-> nervous system -> immunity. Immunocompetence: the extent to which one"s immune system is functioning properly to ward off disease. Links psychology and health: bridges communication between social scientists and health care practitioners. Interdisciplinary research that examines & explains immune function in terms of: biological factors, psychological factors, social factors. Some psychological state: naturally occurring or experimentally induced, dependent variable, usually a measure of immunocompetence, can measure immunocompetence by counting cells or measuring cells in action, two ways, enumerative assay- count cells for, minimum number, balance among types. Functional tests of immunity looks at cells in action; can be: Natural killer cells: they are very important to the immune system. As we will learn in this chapter, stress can reduce their involvement in fighting diseases such as cancer.