Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between __________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → mind, brain and immune system
Option (1) mind and environment — Incorrect. The environment can be a source of stress, but psychoneuroimmunology studies what happens inside the body: how stress acts through the brain on the body’s defences.
Option (2) mind and soul — Incorrect. The field is about bodily systems that can be measured, such as white blood cells and antibodies; the soul does not come into it.
Option (3) mind and emotions — Incorrect. Negative emotions start the chain, but the field follows them further, to the release of stress hormones and the weakening of the immune system. Mind and emotions alone leave out the brain and the immune system.
Option (4) mind, brain and immune system — 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. This is how stress can cause illness.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 02-06-2023 (Slot 3) and 23-06-2023 (Slot 3), and in CUET (UG) 2025 on 20-05-2025 (Slot 1).
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.…” |