Undoing Old Science: The Immune System's Hidden Influence on the Brain (by Aleksandra Deczkowska)

In her talk on the 2023 Paris Talks Ideas Festival's stage, Neuroimmunologist Aleksandra Deczkowska shared a fascinating story about her work. The question Aleksandra is interested in within the science of Neuroimmunology, and which we do not yet have an answer to, is how to employ the immune system to treat neurological diseases, like dementia or depression or the aftermath of a stroke. She argues that we don’t know that yet. And again, it is interesting that we don’t, because we do employ the immune system to cure other problems with our bodies all the time. Like infections or pain or recently even cancer! So what is so special about the brain? How come it took us so long to understand that we could employ the immune system to cure it? Well, it’s an interesting story, which she shared with Paris Talks participants. This talk was filmed and recorded in March 2023 at the Paris Talks Ideas Festival at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris (France). For more information about Aleksandra's work, visit her lab, The Deczkowska lab (affiliated with the Institut Pasteur), that's is interested in better understanding the interactions between immune cells and the brain, and the role of these communication circuits in shaping the brain function in physiology, aging and disease: https://www.aleksdelab.com/ For more information about Paris Talks, please visit our website: https://www.paris-talks.com/