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The human brain is able to influence the intensity of an allergic reaction
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
It turns out that the human brain can influence the intensity of an allergic reaction. Scientists decided to find out whether this is really the case.
The human immune system is at least partially subordinate to consciousness. This is the interesting conclusion reached by scientists from the University of South Australia. Doesn't it seem like something from the arsenal of psychics, magicians and other Jedi? After all, if an ordinary person cuts himself, he doesn't give the order to his immune cells to rush into the breach and eliminate the invading infection. Our immunity, fortunately, is controlled without the leading role of the higher nervous system.
But here's a simple experiment that scientists conducted. Several volunteers were given an injection of histamine: our immune system produces it in large quantities during allergic reactions. Histamine was injected into the arm, but the experiment was organized so that it seemed as if the drug was being injected into a rubber doll. That is, the person believed that everything was fine with his arm, and histamine was being injected into a dummy. At the same time, the other arm was given an injection without any tricks. And in parallel, an experiment was conducted, injecting histamine into both arms - and also "for real."
So, it turned out that if there was an "illusion of injection," if a person thought that the histamine was not being injected into him, then the allergic reaction was much stronger. It looked as if the brain, seeing how the injection was given and understanding that there was no danger in this, suppressed the immune response. And in the case of the imaginary rubber hand, the brain would think that there was nothing to worry about and stop monitoring the immune system.
The Australian scientists presented the results of their study in the journal Current Biology.
It cannot be said that this phenomenon is the only one of its kind. Earlier, the same group showed that if the brain, due to a similar illusion, stops considering, for example, a hand as “its own,” then in such a “rejected” hand, blood flow decreases and the temperature drops slightly. Perhaps the new results will help to establish a deep connection between various autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and psychoneurological disorders. But for sure, this can only be judged after many, many verification experiments: the obtained results look too incredible.