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Infections and immunizations often cause “sickness behavior,” including malaise and difficulty in concentrating, because the body responds to the invading agent by increasing cytokine levels. British investigators examined the effect of this process on psychomotor function in a randomized, crossover study. Sixteen healthy men received placebo or typhoid vaccine, which induces cytokines without affecting body temperature, and then underwent cytokine plasma tests and two cognitive tests. One week later, participants crossed over to the other treatment arm.
Vaccination resulted in significant increases from baseline in plasma interleukin (IL)-6 (but not of IL-1 receptor antagonist or tumor necrosis factor-α). On a task involving the visual cort…