Several new developments in the field of neuroimmunology with focus on the brain-to-immune system communication have been the incentive for this PIR volume. It covers topics such as brain-immune interactions, the impact of stress on the immune response, pain and immunosuppression, the modulation of inflammation and pain by the sympathetic nervous system, consequences of nerve injury for the immune system, neuronal mechanisms of immune cell recruitment, and the modulation of the immune response by corticotropin-releasing hormone or adenosine. The authors are a unique group of scientists who are all interested in brain-to-immune interactions; however, each from a different perspective. The volume will serve both neurobiologists and immunologists to understand the influence of the central nervous system on peripheral inflammation. Many aspects of this book will also be stimulating for researchers in the pain field.

The brain and the mind - can the immune system help?.- Influence of brain-derived cytokines on the immune response.- Physical stress/exercise and immune response.- Pain and immunosuppression.- The sympathetic-immune interface: role in immune regulation andpathology.- Functional role of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system ininflammatory pain.- Nerve injury and immune response.- Neuronal mechanisms of the recruitment of opioid peptide expressingimmune cells.- Peripheral analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of opioids -neuro-immune crosstalk.- The skin as a model for the immunodulatory effects ofcorticotropin-releasing hormone.- Adenosine - a peripheral neuronal modulator of pain and inflammation.