Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:-
Stress is a silent killer. Therefore developing a healthy lifestyle becomes very important.
The mass media, when combined with other health promotion programs, can be an effective tool promoting behaviour change.
Understanding features of party environments may help us devise practical and effective techniques to decrease the amount of alcohol we consume in social situations and reduce the incidence of drunk driving.
Regular and vigorous exercise promotes both physical and psychological health. Starting and maintaining an exercise habit requires that people arrange their environment in a way that supports the desired exercise behaviour and weakens competing behaviours.
Primary prevention involves educating people about the relation between their behaviours and their health, promoting healthy behaviours and directly modifying poor health practices. Secondary prevention strategies emphasize early detection to decrease the severity of illness that is already present.
The study of links between the mind, the brain and the immune system is called __________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Psychoneuroimmunology
Option (1) Immunology — Incorrect. Immunology is the study of the immune system alone, the system that guards the body against attackers. It leaves out the mind and the brain.
Option (2) Physiology — Incorrect. Physiology is the study of how the organs and systems of the body work, such as the heart or the lungs. It does not deal with the links between mind, brain and immunity.
Option (3) Psychoneuroimmunology — Correct. 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 (4) Biodiversity — Incorrect. Biodiversity means the variety of plants and animals living in a place. It belongs to biology and ecology, not to the study of the mind.
Note 1: The terms in Options (1), (2) and (4), ‘immunology’, ‘physiology’ and ‘biodiversity’, are not in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023, nor in the NCERT book (2025-26); explained here for the benefit of the students.
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 23-06-2023 (Slot 3).
Note 3: 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. How does the immune system work? The white blood cells (leucocytes) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign bodies (antigens) such as viruses.…” |