IMMUNE SYSTEM CHALLENGE IMPROVES COGNITIVE-BEHAVIOURAL RESPONSES AND REVERSES MALARIA-INDUCED COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN MICE

Elements of the immune system are necessary for healthy neurocognitive function, and the pattern of the immune response triggered by different exogenous stimuli may induce regulatory or deregulatory signals that can affect nervous functions. Here we investigate the effect of immune stimulation on behavioural parameters in healthy mice and its impact on cognitive sequelae resulting from non-severe experimental malaria. We show that the immune modulation induced by a specific combination of immune stimuli, classically described as capable of inducing a major type 2 immune response, can improve the long-term memory of healthy adult mice and prevent the negative cognitive-behavioural impairments caused by a single episode of mild Plasmodium berghei ANKA malaria. This finding has implications for the development of immunogens as cognitive adjuvants.