Annelise Madison
The immune system—sometimes called the “seventh sense”—acts as an interface between our bodies and social environments, responding not just to pathogens but also to interpersonal stress. Modern social stressors, which are often chronic and ambiguous, activate our ancient stress response (including the immune response) even when there’s no physical danger, negatively affecting both mind and body over time. The Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression suggests that chronic or repetitive social stress—especially conflict and exclusion—and heightened inflammatory responses to stress may drive depression.
In this talk, Dr. Annelise Madison will present prior work that tests this theory within a laboratory setting, as well as an ongoing study that tests it “in the wild” – during sorority rush. She will also present preliminary data from an ongoing study testing the effects of various kinds of social stress (e.g., a speech vs. political debate) on physiological and self-reported stress responses. She will then show data suggesting that social stress may not only amplify immune responses, but also psychological sensitivity to inflammation, perhaps portending risk for chronic pain conditions as well as depression. Lastly, she will show data from randomized trials testing whether inflammatory and anti-inflammatory manipulations can affect social feelings and behavior. Taken together, these findings shed new light on the bidirectional connections among social experiences, immune system activity, and mental health.
Annelise Madison is an assistant professor of clinical science in the UMich Psychology Department. Her work in psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) focuses on how stress, and especially social stress, dysregulates the immune system and sets the stage for a variety of potentially chronic conditions, including depression. She is also interested in studying PNI-informed interventions as a way to improve treatment outcomes in immune-related diseases and disorders.