After a bout of infection or an autoimmune disease flare-up, some people experience prolonged mood swings, emotional dysregulation, and changes in behavior. HMS News highlights two new studies from the teams of Jun Huh (HMS) and Gloria Choi (MIT), detailing the steps of an intricate brain-immune crosstalk that accounts for this long-known but poorly understood observation.

One study involving brain-wide mapping of immune receptors with co-first authors Yunjin Lee (HMS) and Tomoe Ishikawa (MIT). Second study on the effects of cytokines on amygdala circuits involved in anxiety, with co-first authors Byeongjun Lee (MIT) and Jeong-Tae Kwon (MIT).