Read the passage below and answer the following question:
BEHAVIOURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF ILLNESS: THE EFFECTS OF THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS ON HEALTH
- Cancer is actually a group of diseases characterized by a loss of some cells’ ability to function normally. These cells typically multiply rapidly, generating tumours.
- Individual differences in people’s reaction to nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, help determine who will become a smoker.
- Both smoking and passive smoking are implicated in many cancers, in cardiovascular disease, and in sickness among children. Poor diet can raise our risks of cancer of the colon and rectum, breast cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Heavy drinking can cause disease of the stomach, liver and intestines. It can also impair mental and sexual functioning, and it can result in fetal alcohol syndrome.
- Inadequate emotional expression can adversely affect the progression of cancer. Emotions also affect high blood pressure.
- Persons who tend to be competitive, aggressive, hostile, and impatient are displaying a pattern of behaviours termed Type A. Cynical hostility puts Type A persons most at risk for heart attacks.
- Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a reduction in the immune system’s ability to defend itself against foreign matter. AIDS is transmitted primarily through unprotected sex and infected blood.
Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the __________ and the immune system.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → brain
Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the brain and the immune system, and studies the effects of stress on the immune system. Its name carries all three parts: psycho (mind), neuro (brain and nerves) and immunology (the immune system).
Option (1) cells — Incorrect. The immune system is made up of cells, such as T cells and B cells, so cells are already part of the third link; the missing link is the neuro part of the name.
Option (3) blood — Incorrect. The white blood cells travel in the blood, but blood is not one of the three links the field is named after.
Option (4) heart — Incorrect. Stress does affect heart rate and blood pressure, but these are physiological effects of stress; the heart is not part of the mind-brain-immune link.
Note 1: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 02-06-2023 (Slot 3).
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2025 on 20-05-2025 (Slot 1), and in CUET (UG) 2026 on 07-06-2026 (Slot 2).
NCERT (2025-26): “Stress and the Immune System … Stress can cause illness by impairing the workings of the immune system. The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside. Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the brain and the immune system. It studies the effects of stress on the immune system.…” |