Science & Technology

The Science Behind How Sickness Shapes Your Mood | Keely Muscatell | TED

Your immune system is more socially aware than you think, says social neuroscientist and psychology professor Keely Muscatell. Investigating the interconnectedness of your mood and your inflammatory system, she offers an evolutionary reason as to why being sick may make you feel depressed — and vice versa. If you love watching TED Talks like this…

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Your immune system is more socially aware than you think, says social neuroscientist and psychology professor Keely Muscatell. Investigating the interconnectedness of your mood and your inflammatory system, she offers an evolutionary reason as to why being sick may make you feel depressed — and vice versa.

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43 Comments

  1. @xdisruptor6630

    December 4, 2023 at 7:49 am

    What she says is true. However the greater driver of inflammation in the west is our over-sanitized way of child-upbringing (little exposure to mild bacteria during childhood) coupled with the warped, twisted and malformed westernized diet and all the toxic chemicals in it. We know this because studies performed in areas of the world like Tibet conclusively show that children in those areas that follow their traditional organic diets (read: non-westernized diets) have much better immune systems and better stress-handling despite the fact that their lives are overall much much more stressful than ours in the west. We’re poisoning our bodies to death through westernized diets and this does no good to us. Solution: If you’re of European descent turn to traditional mediterranean organic diet, rest well and rest assure your body will take care of the rest.

  2. @hi_mynameis_ty

    December 4, 2023 at 7:53 am

    Great talk!

  3. @MoritaJunichiro

    December 4, 2023 at 7:55 am

    Does everyone get mentally ill after getting the vaccine?

    Or electromagnetic wave attacks such as AI research?

    The town I live in makes AI military robots (Micron)🇯🇵Hiroshima

  4. @samuelzev4076

    December 4, 2023 at 7:57 am

    I think those cytokines influencing our moods is an essential part of a biological defense mechanisms to make us be less active to conserve energy for a faster healing. After all we need all the energy inside of us to repair damage cells and fight off pathogens

  5. @jonr6680

    December 4, 2023 at 7:59 am

    What is the POINT of this research, on topics the human race knew instinctively for over 2000 years?

    Ans – To allow some drug companies to sell some garbage that hijacks the normal response so we can live increasingly dysfunctional lives.

  6. @tonydwietwarze

    December 4, 2023 at 8:40 am

    Her language is so unprofessional, it’s misleading …

  7. @GermanSausagesAreTheWurst

    December 4, 2023 at 8:48 am

    I don’t think it’s my immune system making me sad, I think it’s the health care profiteers and insurance middle-men who priced me out of the market for a doctor.

    • @Shylockcharm

      December 4, 2023 at 7:21 pm

      you dont need a dr . jusr=t watch ted

  8. @lyndaturner9294

    December 4, 2023 at 8:58 am

    TEDx Reno, why are there so many distracting things behind and around this speaker???

  9. @HulaCan-nn1bn

    December 4, 2023 at 9:06 am

    If you take a break from your lifestyle, you can quickly decern points of urgency. The cheese you are after in your endeavors is, well, sometimes just cheese. Read the labels☺

  10. @shehzadmoosa3028

    December 4, 2023 at 9:16 am

    what happens when you have a chronic illness like an auto immune disease?

    • @MotherNaturesEdge

      December 4, 2023 at 1:00 pm

      That is why I clicked in this

    • @anonymouse7079

      December 4, 2023 at 4:30 pm

      Is assume stress definitely doesn’t help but also that it is likely given your situation so like all the points get exponentially more important I think 😬😬 there may be more info on root causes and treatments regarding this one day but idk that we have that info yet 🙁

  11. @vesawuoristo4162

    December 4, 2023 at 9:18 am

    I am pretty level-headed emotionally, and I have not gotten sick much at all in years.

  12. @Ninja9JKD

    December 4, 2023 at 9:24 am

    Your immune system is likely pretty sad if you took the experimental mRNA/modRNA technology

  13. @dameanvil

    December 4, 2023 at 10:02 am

    00:39 🧠 Psychological and social well-being intertwines with physiological changes during sickness, influencing mood and behavior.
    02:11 🔬 The immune system’s inflammatory response, coordinated by cytokines, causes physical symptoms during sickness and affects mood and social behavior.
    04:50 🤔 Evolutionarily, the immune system might induce feelings of depression and social withdrawal to conserve energy during illness, redirecting resources for healing.
    06:56 🔄 Inflammation’s impact on social interactions isn’t absolute; it might enhance motivation for connecting with close individuals, not necessarily reduce overall sociality.
    09:35 ⚡ Psychological stress can trigger inflammation, showcasing the bidirectional relationship between the brain and the immune system.
    11:04 🧭 Understanding the immune system’s role in mood changes during stress helps interpret physical and emotional reactions, offering reassurance during difficult times.

    • @anonymouse7079

      December 4, 2023 at 4:28 pm

      This is really cool and it gives me ideas for having students choose a video and summarize like this as a more fun and technologically savvy assignment

    • @dameanvil

      December 4, 2023 at 8:44 pm

      @@anonymouse7079 A way to romaticize how students get pointless tasks so the teacher could justify the wages.

  14. @timkiemdautu

    December 4, 2023 at 11:23 am

    Really happy to see this video. Thank you❤❤❤

  15. @evertongomes4248

    December 4, 2023 at 11:29 am

    I get sad everytime I’m hungry, and if it takes too long to have a meal I get angry.

  16. @Morrighanangel84

    December 4, 2023 at 11:30 am

    TED timed this very well. I’m sick and miserable today

  17. @HappySlappii

    December 4, 2023 at 11:30 am

    Yoga is just stretching I don’t care what anyone says! 😂

  18. @anthonymonga8576

    December 4, 2023 at 11:55 am

    BS

  19. @harsatinderpalsingh2861

    December 4, 2023 at 12:47 pm

    Immune system

  20. @lakwak

    December 4, 2023 at 1:59 pm

    What about people with: anxiety, fibro & allergy?

  21. @PW218

    December 4, 2023 at 3:58 pm

    For some “unknown” reason, many people I know are constantly sick. It’s usually not even weeks apart from the last time. And these people are young and supposedly healthy.

  22. @rdapigleo

    December 4, 2023 at 4:04 pm

    Gosh, that’s swell! 😁
    Thank you for explaining my moods 😊

  23. @anonymouse7079

    December 4, 2023 at 4:18 pm

    I think also people with secure attachments might reach out to others when sad and lonely, this our immune systems may be trying to get us to interact with loved ones for help or even when doing well, they might be trying to influence our microbiome by interacting with others to make us healthier in the future

    • @anonymouse7079

      December 4, 2023 at 4:27 pm

      Commented too early lol, but the microbiome part still stands as a new added thought 🤔😝

  24. @HaiNguyenLandNhaTrang

    December 4, 2023 at 6:04 pm

    Hello from Vietnam. Great speech. Thanks.

  25. @frozenwindow407

    December 4, 2023 at 8:20 pm

    As a celiac in a world where my immune system trigger is almost inescapable, I am intuitively familiar with this link between mood and the immune system.
    Hearing this is not an unstudied effect that brings me great satisfaction.
    I know anecdotally that If you frequently have an inflammatory response, it can meaningfully impact mental health.

  26. @itsjeninMass

    December 4, 2023 at 11:24 pm

    This was excellent. The human body gets more interesting the more we learn!

    I have a chronic illness, and I suggest from depression. So do the cat majority of other disabled people that I know. We all just figured we were depressed, because we sometimes miss our on things, but it gives me a weird sort of comfort to know that IT IS A THING.

  27. @martiesoward5095

    December 5, 2023 at 3:10 am

    No, but everything else is.

  28. @darareachphon

    December 5, 2023 at 4:37 am

    My immune system is making me so happy enough to run for.

  29. @pazukong

    December 5, 2023 at 7:25 am

    00:00 Start

    00:03 研究發現免疫系統對情緒和社交行為有強大影響
    ⭐ 免疫系統的生理變化會影響我們的情緒和社交行為
    ⭐ 炎症反應會導致我們感到沮喪和無望
    ⭐ 炎症也會使我們想要避免與他人社交
    ⭐ 免疫系統的變化和心理經歷之間存在相互影響

    04:41 免疫系統如何影響我們的社交生活
    ⭐ 免疫系統可以引起抑鬱和孤獨感
    ⭐ 免疫系統告訴大腦感到沮喪和疏遠是為了讓我們休息
    ⭐ 炎症可能使我們更有動力尋求親密的社交互動
    ⭐ 壓力會引起炎症,進而影響我們的社交生活

    09:35 壓力會導致細胞激素增加
    ⭐ 壓力會導致細胞激素增加
    ⭐ 心理壓力會導致炎症反應
    ⭐ 免疫系統和大腦不斷溝通
    ⭐ 了解免疫系統的社交生活

  30. @celestialcircledance

    December 5, 2023 at 7:31 am

    This begs a question of introverts versus extroverts . A lot of people who are otherwise healthy are reserved and insular by nature since early childhood and are not acting out of character ..

  31. @spaceo8568

    December 5, 2023 at 10:02 am

    I pretty sure my problem is i work full time and am still poor. It all comes down to money. Period.

  32. @timcummings3089

    December 5, 2023 at 10:16 am

    Possibly causing us to isolate, to not spread the illness

  33. @Claus-dx2qy

    December 5, 2023 at 12:27 pm

    Psychosomatic medicine in reverse.

  34. @peglor

    December 5, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    It makes perfect sense that staying at home when you feel sick would be selected for by evolution as it reduces the spread of disease. Historically, close family would all live in the same house already, so no benefit to genetic selection for staying away from them.

  35. @Laszlo34

    December 6, 2023 at 4:00 am

    Anecdotally, this makes a HUGE amount of sense for me. A few times I’ve gone through multi-day debilitating fatigue, with no other outward symptoms. It’s very embarrassing not to be able to explain to your work WHY you just took a whole week off, other than “debilitating fatigue”. WTH excuse is that? Well, it has always been during times of unusually high stress. So this mechanism Keely is describing suggests one very real possibility. Thanks, Keely! Keep up the great work!

  36. @meganelliott4718

    December 6, 2023 at 8:15 am

    I like that at no point does she say “suck it up” and “you’re being dramatic” and “you just need to get out there and socialize” (to deal with depression) lol these are all things I’ve been told my whole life with chronic illness, experiencing the same symptoms she’s describing. It’s nice to hear that it’s a normal response to illness and not a personal weakness.

  37. @ThePeacockFamily

    December 6, 2023 at 3:36 pm

    I get sicke when I stress. This was a very interesting ted talk.

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