Just Seeing A (Fake) Sick Person Can Activate Your Immune System
We have all experienced the phenomena of seeing a disturbing or disgusting image that makes us feel physically ill. When the human brain processes certain types of visual images, it can send neural signals to our bodies that result in us feeling nauseated, light-headed, or shaky.
Scientists have now learned that certain types of visual imagery can also turn on our immune systems, even without being physically exposed to an infectious agent.
A team of scientists based in Switzerland performed an experiment with 248 healthy adults, in which the subjects were exposed to avatar images of people walking towards them. Some looked healthy with neutral facial expressions, others looked healthy but with fearful expressions, and some looked like they had a contagious illness (indicated by coughing and skin rashes). The subjects wore gaming headsets that created an immersive 3-D virtual reality environment, in which the simulated avatars walked towards them.
When the subjects were approached by avatars who looked sick and appeared ready to invade their personal space, the researcher found that subjects activated their innate lymphoid cells, which is part of the “first responder” arm of the immune system. This was measured by blood sampling of the subjects. In contrast, this cellular response did not occur when the subjects were approached by fearful-looking but non-infected avatars, or by avatars with neutral expressions.
