The rapidly growing field of immunopsychiatry combines expertise and insights from immunology, psychiatry and neuroscience to understand the role of inflammation and other immune processes in causing and treating mental illness. This represents a major shift in mental health science, traditionally focused on psychological and neuronal mechanisms of depression, psychosis and dementia. This book provides the first comprehensive overview of recent, inter-disciplinary research linking disordered function of the immune system to the brain and mental illness. It offers a broad and deep perspective on the implications of immune system involvement in psychiatric disorders, including a balanced focus on basic science and clinical applications. Chapters cover the scientific evidence linking immune processes to major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, depression, anxiety and dementia. An invaluable guide for graduate students, doctors in training, scientific researchers and others interested in the link between the immune system and mental health.

‘This is a very timely, comprehensive textbook that focuses on the next frontier in clinical neurosciences - how the immune system modulates the body responses that will affect the brain and its functioning - including a likely intersection with nutrition and immune responses that take place in the digestive system. The editors assembled a stellar team of leading scientists covering these inter-related disciplines and research areas. It will be a must-read for all interested in the intricacies of these complex relationships, and the next wave of research that hopefully will help us to elucidate the brain and body mechanisms involved in the genesis of major psychiatric illnesses – with an ultimate goal of generating novel, more impactful treatment targets.’

Jair C. Soares, MD, Ph.D. - Professor and Chairman, Pat Rutherford Chair in Psychiatry, and Director, UT Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, at Louis Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UT Houston Medical School, Houston, USA

‘It is not often that we witness the birth of a new discipline in medicine, with its own new name, but the birth of Immunopsychiatry is such an event. The authors of this book put together the compelling preclinical and clinical evidence - some dating back a few years but not firmly put into a modern perspective - that the immune system directly affects the brain and produces emotional and behavioural changes underpinning not only psychological mechanisms but, most relevantly, psychiatric symptoms. This new area builds on the previous concept of psychoneuroimmunology in order to emphasize the prominence of the immune system in the immune–psyche dyad, as well as the translational benefits that this will bring to our understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of psychiatric disorders.’

Carmine M. Pariante - Professor of Biological Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, and Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

‘Recommended.’

J. M. Miller Source: Choice Connect