Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Experimentally-Induced Inflammation Predicts Present Focus

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

Here, we provide an experimental test of the relationship between levels of proinflammatory cytokines and present-focused decision-making.

Methods

We examined whether increases in salivary levels of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β and interleukin-6) engendered by visually priming immunologically-relevant threats (pathogen threat, physical harm) and opportunities (mating) predicted temporal discounting, a key component of present-focused decision-making.

Results

As hypothesized, results revealed that each experimental manipulation led to a significant rise in both salivary interleukin-1β and interleukin-6. Moreover, post-manipulation levels of each cytokine independently predicted temporal discounting across conditions. These results were not moderated by pre-manipulation levels of either cytokine, nor were they found using the difference between pre- and post-manipulation levels of cytokines as a predictor.

Conclusions

Together, these results suggest that levels of proinflammatory cytokines may play a mechanistic role in the desire for immediately available rewards.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Addicott, M. A., Pearson, J. M., Sweitzer, M. M., Barack, D. L., & Platt, M. L. (2017). A primer on foraging and the explore/exploit trade-off for psychiatry research. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(10), 1931–1939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ainsworth, S. E., & Maner, J. K. (2014). Assailing the competition: Sexual selection, proximate mating motives, and aggressive behavior in men. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(12), 1648–1658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alba, E., & Dorronsoro, B. (2005). The exploration/exploitation tradeoff in dynamic cellular genetic algorithms. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 9(2), 126–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aubert, A., Vega, C., Dantzer, R., & Goodall, G. (1995). Pyrogens specifically disrupt the acquisition of a task involving cognitive processing in the rat. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 9(2), 129–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banks, W. A. (2005). Blood-brain barrier transport of cytokines: A mechanism for neuropathology. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 11(8), 973–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benveniste, E. N. (1992). Inflammatory cytokines within the central nervous system: Sources, function, and mechanism of action. American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, 263(1), C1–C16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berk, M., Williams, L. J., Jacka, F. N., O’Neil, A., Pasco, J. A., Moylan, S., et al. (2013). So depression is an inflammatory disease, but where does the inflammation come from? BMC Medicine, 11(1), 200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brumbach, B. H., Figueredo, A. J., & Ellis, B. J. (2009). Effects of harsh and unpredictable environments in adolescence on development of life history strategies. Human Nature, 20(1), 25–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulley, A., Henry, J., & Suddendorf, T. (2016). Prospection and the present moment: The role of episodic foresight in intertemporal choices between immediate and delayed rewards. Review of General Psychology, 20(1), 29–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caraco, T., Martindale, S., & Whittam, T. S. (1980). An empirical demonstration of risk-sensitive foraging preferences. Animal Behaviour, 28(3), 820–830.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chovatiya, R., & Medzhitov, R. (2014). Stress, inflammation, and defense of homeostasis. Molecular Cell, 54(2), 281–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. A., Hentzen, B. T., Plank, L. D., & Hill, G. L. (1996). Sequential changes in insulin-like growth factor 1, plasma proteins, and total body protein in severe sepsis and multiple injury. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, 20(5), 363–370.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. D., McClure, S. M., & Angela, J. Y. (2007). Should I stay or should I go? How the human brain manages the trade-off between exploitation and exploration. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 362(1481), 933–942.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantzer, R. (2001). Cytokine-induced sickness behavior: Mechanisms and implications. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 933(1), 222–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantzer, R. (2009). Cytokine, sickness behavior, and depression. Immunology and Allergy Clinics, 29(2), 247–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantzer, R., & Kelley, K. W. (2007). Twenty years of research on cytokine-induced sickness behavior. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21(2), 153–160.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dantzer, R., O'Connor, J. C., Freund, G. G., Johnson, R. W., & Kelley, K. W. (2008). From inflammation to sickness and depression: When the immune system subjugates the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(1), 46–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Giudice, M., & Gangestad, S. W. (2018). Rethinking IL-6 and CRP: Why they are more than inflammatory biomarkers, and why it matters. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 70, 61–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinarello, C. A. (1991). Interleukin-1 and interleukin-1 antagonism. Blood, 77(8), 1627–1652.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinarello, C. A. (1996). Biologic basis for interleukin-1 in disease. Blood, 87(6), 2095–2147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y., & Peng, C. Y. J. (2013). Principled missing data methods for researchers. SpringerPlus, 2(1), 222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evenden, J. L. (1999). Varieties of impulsivity. Psychopharmacology, 146(4), 348–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fawcett, T. W., McNamara, J. M., & Houston, A. I. (2012). When is it adaptive to be patient? A general framework for evaluating delayed rewards. Behavioural Processes, 89(2), 128–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankenhuis, W. E., & de Weerth, C. (2013). Does early-life exposure to stress shape or impair cognition? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22(5), 407–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., Delton, A. W., & Robertson, T. E. (2011). The influence of mortality and socioeconomic status on risk and delayed rewards: A life history theory approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(6), 1015–1026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griskevicius, V., Ackerman, J. M., Cantú, S. M., Delton, A. W., Robertson, T. E., Simpson, J. A., et al. (2013). When the economy falters, do people spend or save? Responses to resource scarcity depend on childhood environments. Psychological Science, 24(2), 197–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hey, J. D. (1982). Search for rules for search. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 3(1), 65–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higginson, A. D., Fawcett, T. W., Houston, A. I., & McNamara, J. M. (2018). Trust your gut: Using physiological states as a source of information is almost as effective as optimal Bayesian learning. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 285(1871), 2017–2411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, S. E., Boehm, G. W., & Prokosch, M. L. (2016). Vulnerability to disease as a predictor of faster life history strategies. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 2(2), 116–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hills, T. T., Todd, P. M., Lazer, D., Redish, A. D., Couzin, I. D., & Cognitive Search Research Group. (2015). Exploration versus exploitation in space, mind, and society. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(1), 46–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, S. J., & Rothwell, N. J. (1995). Cytokines and the nervous system I: Expression and recognition. Trends in Neurosciences, 18(2), 83–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphries, M. D., Khamassi, M., & Gurney, K. (2012). Dopaminergic control of the exploration-exploitation trade-off via the basal ganglia. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 6, 9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Katz, K., & Naug, D. (2015). Energetic state regulates the exploration–exploitation trade-off in honeybees. Behavioral Ecology, 26(4), 1045–1050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kidd, C., Palmeri, H., & Aslin, R. N. (2013). Rational snacking: Young children’s decision-making on the marshmallow task is moderated by beliefs about environmental reliability. Cognition, 126(1), 109–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Preacher, K. J., MacCallum, R. C., Atkinson, C., Malarkey, W. B., & Glaser, R. (2003). Chronic stress and age-related increases in the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(15), 9090–9095.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korf, R. E. (1985). Depth-first iterative-deepening: An optimal admissible tree search. Artificial Intelligence, 27(1), 97–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Fratta, I., Tatangelo, R., Campagna, G., Rizzuto, A., Franceschelli, S., Ferrone, A., et al. (2018). The plasmatic and salivary levels of IL-1β, IL-18 and IL-6 are associated to emotional difference during stress in young male. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 3031.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazer, D., & Friedman, A. (2007). The network structure of exploration and exploitation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 52(4), 667–694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liesenjohann, T., Liesenjohann, M., Trebaticka, L., Sundell, J., Haapakoski, M., Ylönen, H., & Eccard, J. A. (2015). State-dependent foraging: Lactating voles adjust their foraging behavior according to the presence of a potential nest predator and season. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(5), 747–754.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lochmiller, R. L., & Deerenberg, C. (2000). Trade-offs in evolutionary immunology: Just what is the cost of immunity? Oikos, 88(1), 87–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March, J. G. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1), 71–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, W. A., Jones, A., & Goldstone, R. L. (2008). Propagation of innovations in networked groups. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 137(3), 422–433.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matzinger, P. (2002). The danger model: A renewed sense of self. Science, 296(5566), 301–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire, J. T., & Kable, J. W. (2013). Rational temporal predictions can underlie apparent failures to delay gratification. Psychological Review, 120(2), 395–410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, J. M., & Houston, A. I. (1992). Risk-sensitive foraging: A review of the theory. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 54(2–3), 355–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, J. M., Merad, S., & Houston, A. I. (1991). A model of risk-sensitive foraging for a reproducing animal. Animal Behaviour, 41(5), 787–792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medzhitov, R. (2008). Origin and physiological roles of inflammation. Nature, 454(7203), 428–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medzhitov, R., Schneider, D. S., & Soares, M. P. (2012). Disease tolerance as a defense strategy. Science, 335(6071), 936–941.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, N. B., Fraser, N. H., & Burns, M. D. (1998). State–dependent shifts between nocturnal and diurnal activity in salmon. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 265(1405), 1503–1507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonacs, P. (2001). State dependent behavior and the marginal value theorem. Behavioral Ecology, 12(1), 71–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson, O., Brown, J. S., & Smith, H. G. (2002). Long-and short-term state-dependent foraging under predation risk: An indication of habitat quality. Animal Behaviour, 63(5), 981–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pyke, G. H., Pulliam, H. R., & Charnov, E. L. (1977). Optimal foraging: A selective review of theory and tests. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 52(2), 137–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radner, R., & Rothschild, M. (1975). On the allocation of effort. Journal of Economic Theory, 10(3), 358–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Real, L. (1990). Search theory and mate choice. I. Models of single-sex discrimination. The American Naturalist, 136(3), 376–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Real, L., & Caraco, T. (1986). Risk and foraging in stochastic environments. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 17(1), 371–390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rickard, I. J., Frankenhuis, W. E., & Nettle, D. (2014). Why are childhood family factors associated with timing of maturation? A role for internal prediction. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(1), 3–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salimetrics (2019). Salivary IL-6 (Interleukin-6) analysis for scientific research – Salimetrics. (2019). https://www.salimetrics.com/analyte/salivary-interleukin-6/Accessed 15 January 2019.

  • Schaller, M., Miller, G. E., Gervais, W. M., Yager, S., & Chen, E. (2010). Mere visual perception of other people’s disease symptoms facilitates a more aggressive immune response. Psychological Science, 21(5), 649–652.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, J. S., Commandeur, H. R., & Volberda, H. W. (2007). The multifaceted nature of exploration and exploitation: Value of supply, demand, and spatial search for innovation. Organization Science, 18(1), 20–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slavish, D. C., Graham-Engeland, J. E., Smyth, J. M., & Engeland, C. G. (2015). Salivary markers of inflammation in response to acute stress. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 44, 253–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steptoe, A., Hamer, M., & Chida, Y. (2007). The effects of acute psychological stress on circulating inflammatory factors in humans: A review and meta-analysis. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 21(7), 901–912.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teles, R. P., Likhari, V., Socransky, S. S., & Haffajee, A. D. (2009). Salivary cytokine levels in subjects with chronic periodontitis and in periodontally healthy individuals: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Periodontal Research, 44(3), 411–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, A. W., & Lotze, M. T. (Eds.). (2003). The cytokine handbook, two-volume set. London: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. B., Sirdeshmukh, D., & Voss, Z. G. (2008). The effects of slack resources and environmentalthreat on product exploration and exploitation. Academy of Management Journal, 51(1), 147–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, X. T., & Dvorak, R. D. (2010). Sweet future: Fluctuating blood glucose levels affect future discounting. Psychological Science, 21(2), 183–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkinson, S. C., Boddy, L., Burton, K., Darrah, P. R., Eastwood, D., Fricker, M. D., & Tlalka, M. (2005). New approaches to investigating the function of mycelial networks. Mycologist, 19(1), 11–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waynforth, D. (2012). Life-history theory, chronic childhood illness and the timing of first reproduction in a British birth cohort. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 279(1740), 2998–3002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, S., Munro, C., Pickler, R., Grap, M. J., & Elswick, R. K. (2012). Comparison of biomarkers in blood and saliva in healthy adults. Nursing Research and Practice, Article ID: 246178, 1–4.  https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/246178.

  • Winterhalder, B., Lu, F., & Tucker, B. (1999). Risk-senstive adaptive tactics: Models and evidence from subsistence studies in biology and anthropology. Journal of Archaeological Research, 7(4), 301–348.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This project was supported by two National Science Foundation awards: BCS #1551201 awarded to S. E. Hill and BCS #1227089 awarded to J. K. Maner and L. A. Eckel.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Texas Christian University, 2955 S. University Dr, Fort Worth, TX, 76129, USA

    Jeffrey Gassen, Gary W. Boehm & Sarah E. Hill

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call St, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Anastasia Makhanova, Jon K. Maner, E. Ashby Plant, Lisa A. Eckel & Larissa Nikonova

  3. Department of Psychology, Tulane University, 2007 Percival Stern Hall, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA

    Marjorie L. Prokosch

Authors
  1. Jeffrey Gassen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anastasia Makhanova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jon K. Maner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. E. Ashby Plant
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Lisa A. Eckel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Larissa Nikonova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Marjorie L. Prokosch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Gary W. Boehm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Sarah E. Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey Gassen.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(SAV 13 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gassen, J., Makhanova, A., Maner, J.K. et al. Experimentally-Induced Inflammation Predicts Present Focus. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 5, 148–163 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-019-00110-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-019-00110-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation