Brain Immunity: A Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine-Immunology (PNEI) Vision

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to this Special Issue on Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine-Immunology (PNEI).

Background and history of this topic:

Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine-Immunology (PNEI, also known as psychoneuroimmunology, PNI) is a discipline that studies the interactions among the central nervous system, the endocrine system, and the immune system, and the mechanisms of action involved in altering the balance in the human body. Research into a possible link among these different systems began in the first decades of the last century thanks to the pioneering work of several scientists who opened up a world of chemical communication between the brain and the endocrine glands.

By studying and combining different multidisciplinary findings, PNEI aims to prove that human systems are not closed and separate systems that act alone and detached from each other, but that each of them is part of a complex network that considers the psyche as a dimension that emerges from the biological dimension, has an impact on the endocrine or immunological system, and has its own autonomy that allows it to act back on the brain by modifying it when seemingly non-correlated changes occur in the endocrine or immunological system.

In recent years, evidence has emerged for the existence of a bidirectional relationship among emotional and psychological processes, the immune system, and the neuroendocrine system, but the mechanisms of action underlying these connections and the implications for the traditional medical field need further evaluations.

PNEI is an innovative medical approach that represents a paradigm shift away from a strictly biomedical view of health and disease, considered hermetically sealed compartments, to a more interdisciplinary view. The in-depth study of this topic can create a new awareness of the clinical approach, which no longer views the human body as a sum of different systems, but as an integrated and interlocking network whose balance medicine seeks to restore.

Cutting-edge research:

papers that explore the mechanisms of PNEI or explain how the nervous system, neuroendocrine system, immune system, and psyche interact and influence each other and how this complex network can support preventive and therapeutic approaches are welcome.

What kind of papers we are soliciting:

original articles, reviews (systematic review, scoping review, integrative reviews, or narrative reviews), and meta-analysis.

Prof. Dr. Massimo Fioranelli
Prof. Dr. Maria Grazia Roccia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• psycho-neuro-endocrine-immunology
• brain
• immunology
• endocrinology
• neurology