{"id":247196,"date":"2026-01-20T01:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/247196\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T01:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T01:14:09","slug":"positive-thinking-could-boost-immune-response-to-vaccines-say-scientists-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/247196\/","title":{"rendered":"Positive thinking could boost immune response to vaccines, say scientists | Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Positive thoughts may boost the immune system according to research that points to a connection between the mind and our body\u2019s natural defences.<\/p>\n

Scientists have found people who used positive thinking to boost activity in the brain\u2019s reward system responded better to vaccination, with their immune systems producing more antibodies than others after having the shot.<\/p>\n

The work does not mean being hopeful can rid people of disease, but hints at the potential for mental strategies to help the immune system fight infections and even attack tumours to keep them at bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first demonstration in humans, in what seems to be a causal manner, that if you learn how to recruit your reward system in the brain, the effectiveness of immunisation increases,\u201d said Talma Hendler, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Tel Aviv University.<\/p>\n

Previous work has shown that positive expectations can benefit patients with some medical problems, as seen in the placebo effect<\/a>. And, while animal studies suggest that activating the brain\u2019s reward system can boost immune defences, the picture in humans has been less clear.<\/p>\n

In the study<\/a>, healthy volunteers took part in brain training sessions in which they tried different mental strategies to boost activity in particular parts of the brain. They knew how well they were doing thanks to real-time feedback in the form of scores that rose in line with brain activity.<\/p>\n

After four training sessions, the volunteers were given a hepatitis B vaccine. They then gave blood two and four weeks later, which researchers analysed for antibodies against hepatitis.<\/p>\n

The scientists found that people who boosted activity in part of the brain\u2019s reward system called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) had the strongest immune response to the vaccine. Those who boosted it most successfully did so through positive expectations, or imagining good things happening.<\/p>\n

The effect may prove useful in boosting patients\u2019 immune systems, but larger trials are needed to show if there is any clear medical benefit. Dr Tamar Koren, a co-author, said the team was investigating whether other parts of the immune system were also affected, such as that responsible for inflammation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe approach we tested is intended solely as a complementary tool that may enhance immune responsiveness to vaccination,\u201d said Dr Nitzan Lubianiker, a senior author on the study. \u201cIt cannot, and is not meant to, replace vaccines or standard medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonathan Kipnis, a professor of pathology and immunology at Washington University in St Louis, agreed. \u201cIt is probably too early to draw conclusions about the degree of clinical relevance,\u201d he said. \u201cIf such effects were shown to matter clinically in a larger clinical trial, they would most likely complement the established treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeremy Howick, a professor of empathic healthcare at the University of Leicester, said the effect was small and cautioned that sick patients in a clinic may respond differently, but he still saw positives. He said: \u201cGiven that it\u2019s free for healthcare professionals to say things that can generate positive expectations, without exaggerating, like: \u2018We\u2019re going to do our best to take care of you,\u2019 or: \u2018I\u2019ve seen this treatment work for people like you,\u2019 this is a pretty robust signal suggesting we should do more of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Positive thoughts may boost the immune system according to research that points to a connection between the mind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-247196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}