Neuroimmunology is one of the fastest-growing fields in the life sciences, and for good reason; it fills the gap between two principal systems of the organism, the nervous system and the immune system. Although both systems affect each other through bidirectional interactions, we focus here on one direction — the effects of the nervous system on immunity. First, we ask why is it beneficial to allow the nervous system any control over immunity? We evaluate the potential benefits to the immune system that arise by taking advantage of some of the brain’s unique features, such as its capacity to integrate and synchronize physiological functions, its predictive capacity and its speed of response. Second, we explore how the brain communicates with the peripheral immune system, with a focus on the endocrine, sympathetic, parasympathetic, sensory and meningeal lymphatic systems. Finally, we examine where in the brain this immune information is processed and regulated. We chart a partial map of brain regions that may be relevant for brain–immune system communication, our goal being to introduce a conceptual framework for formulating new hypotheses to study these interactions.

神经免疫学是生命科学中发展最快的领域之一，这是有充分理由的；它填补了生物体的两个主要系统，神经系统和免疫系统之间的空白。虽然这两个系统通过双向相互作用相互影响，但我们在这里关注一个方向——神经系统对免疫力的影响。首先，我们要问为什么让神经系统控制免疫力是有益的？我们评估了利用大脑的一些独特功能（例如整合和同步生理功能的能力、预测能力和反应速度）对免疫系统产生的潜在益处。其次，我们探索大脑如何与外周免疫系统沟通，重点关注内分泌、交感神经、副交感神经、感觉和脑膜淋巴系统。最后，我们检查了大脑中处理和调节这种免疫信息的位置。我们绘制了可能与大脑免疫系统通信相关的大脑区域的部分地图，我们的目标是引入一个概念框架来制定新的假设来研究这些相互作用。