Paying Attention to Your Body May Influence Your Immune Response: Study - Video

A new study, published in Nature Human Behaviour. suggests that paying attention to inflammatory sensations may actually help the body regulate its immune response, while deliberately distracting oneself could produce a stronger inflammatory reaction.

Researchers led by neuroscientist Liron Rozenkrantz of Bar-Ilan University studied 57 healthy volunteers using a standard histamine skin-prick test. Participants were asked either to focus closely on sensations from the inflamed skin or to distract themselves with engaging videos or abstract shapes.

Although participants reported greater discomfort when focusing on the inflammation, their actual immune response was smaller. In the first experiment, the average wheal measured 3.5 millimeters during focused attention, compared with 5.0 millimeters during distraction. The surrounding redness, or flare, measured 10.6 millimeters versus 14.0 millimeters, respectively.

Around 90% of participants showed a larger inflammatory response when distracted. After 20 minutes, nearly 90% of those focusing on the sensation had a wheal that was stable or shrinking, compared with 46% in the distraction condition.

A second experiment produced similar results, suggesting that the effect was linked to where participants directed their attention rather than the specific task used.

The researchers also tested whether sensory signals were responsible by numbing the skin with lidocaine. This weakened the attention-related effect but did not eliminate it. Measurements of heart-rate variability suggested that internal attention may also engage parasympathetic, or vagal, pathways involved in regulating inflammation.

The findings provide evidence that attention can influence immune regulation. However, the study involved a small group and examined only a temporary skin reaction. It does not show that focusing on symptoms can treat infections, autoimmune diseases, or chronic inflammation.

Still, the results offer new insight into how the brain and immune system communicate and suggest that attention may be an active component of the body's inflammatory regulation.

REFERENCE: Mizrachi, N., Rottem, M. & Rozenkrantz, L. Voluntary attention regulates acute immune responses in humans. Nat Hum Behav (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02541-1