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TY - CHAP AU - Tilders, J. H. AU - Schmidt, E. D. ED - Dantzer, Robert ED - Wollman, Emmanuelle E. ED - Yirmiya, Raz PY - 1999 DA - 1999// TI - Cross-Sensitization Between Immune And Non-Immune Stressors BT - Cytokines, Stress, and Depression SP - 179 EP - 197 PB - Springer US CY - New York, NY AB - Organisms have a tremendous capacity to adapt to environmental conditions. This requires not only immediate responses to acute alterations in the internal or external milieu but also mechanisms that allow experiences to shape the response to later stimuli. Together with its genetic background, it are the specific experiences and their long lasting consequences that model the individual. Aspects of this can be found in almost all cells and organs, and are most prominent in the central nervous system and the immune system. The immune system shows an amazing capacity to store information about pathogens to the extent that a first encounter can prevent the organism from becoming ill by a renewed contact with the pathogen for a lifetime. Information about a wide variety of experiences can be stored in the brain to affect the responses to later events. How this information is stored is still poorly understood, but synaptic plasticity is generally considered to play a crucial role. Not only during early development but also in adulthood single or sporadic exposure to particular environmental stimuli can affect the response to the same stimulus weeks to years later. Such a change in response as a result of a specific earlier experience is often denoted as the “priming” effect of the stimulus. In its most simple form, priming can result in a reduction of the response to a second encounter, a phenomenon called desensitization, habituation or tolerance. Alternatively, priming may lead to exaggerated responses upon renewed exposure, a phenomenon known as sensitization. SN - 978-0-585-37970-8 UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-585-37970-8\_11 DO - 10.1007/978-0-585-37970-8_11 ID - Tilders1999 ER -