Inflammation, Self-Regulation, and Health: An Immunologic Model of Self-Regulatory Failure

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Psychology

Background:

• Self-regulation is vital for goal pursuit despite distractions, influencing success and health.
• Poor self-regulation is linked to negative life outcomes and increased mortality risk.
• While cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects are studied, biological underpinnings of self-regulation are less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review research on how immune system inflammation affects self-regulation.
• To propose an integrated, multilevel model of inflammation-induced self-regulatory failure.
• To explore implications for understanding biobehavioral interactions and disease risk reduction.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies examining inflammation's effects on neural, cognitive, and motivational processes.
• Synthesis of findings to develop a theoretical model.
• Analysis of the model's implications for health and human potential.

Main Results:

• Inflammation involves immune system components that can alter brain functions.
• These alterations disrupt cognitive, motivational, and neural processes essential for self-regulation.
• Inflammation can lead to widespread biobehavioral changes promoting self-regulatory failure.

Conclusions:

• Inflammation represents a significant biological factor contributing to impaired self-regulation.
• An immunologic model explains how biological and behavioral factors interact to influence self-control.
• Targeting inflammation offers novel strategies for reducing disease risk and enhancing human potential.