If you are going to get a shot of flu vaccine, try to be happy about it before you get to the doctor's office. If you are in a depressed mood, your body may not be able to take advantage of the immunization. That's one implication of a recent study conducted at the University of Wisconsin and published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In this study, researchers asked students to think of either a very positive experience or a very negative one, and then write about it for five minutes.
Afterwards, they received a shot of flu vaccine. Blood tests later showed that the students in the positive group developed significantly greater amounts of immunity in response to the flu shot than did the students in the negative group. Brain scans during the experiment showed greater activity in the left prefrontal cortex, while the negative group showed greater activity in the right prefrontal cortex. Those in the positive group who showed the greatest left brain activity showed the greatest flu immunity six months later. Those in the negative group who showed the greatest right-brain activity showed the lowest flu immunity after six months.
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