Brain and Immune System Part II—An Integrative View upon Spatial Orientation, Learning, and Memory Function

The brain and the immune system communicate in many ways and interact directly at neuroimmune interfaces at brain borders, such as hippocampus, choroid plexus, and gateway reflexes. The first part of this review described intercellular communication (synapses, extracellular vesicles, and tunneling nanotubes) during homeostasis and neuroimmunomodulation upon dysfunction. This second part compares spatial orientation, learning, and memory function in both systems. The hippocampus, deep in the medial temporal lobes of the brain, is reported to play a central role in all three functions. Its medial entorhinal cortex contains neuronal spatial cells (place cells, head direction cells, boundary vector cells, and grid cells) that facilitate spatial navigation and allow the construction of cognitive maps. Sensory input (about 100 megabytes per second) via engram neurons and top down and bottom up information processing between the temporal lobes and other lobes of the brain are described to facilitate learning and memory function. Output impulses leave the brain via approximately 1.5 million fibers, which connect to effector organs such as muscles and glands. Spatial orientation in the immune system is described to involve gradients of chemokines, chemokine receptors, and cell adhesion molecules. These facilitate immune cell interactions with other cells and the extracellular matrix, recirculation via lymphatic organs (lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, and bone marrow), and via lymphatic fluid, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissues. Learning in the immune system is summarized to include recognition of exogenous antigens from the outside world as well as endogenous blood-borne antigens, including tumor antigens. This learning process involves cognate interactions through immune synapses and the distinction between self and non-self antigens. Immune education via vaccination helps the process of development of protective immunity. Examples are presented concerning the therapeutic potential of memory T cells, in particular those derived from bone marrow. Like in the brain, memory function in the immune system is described to be facilitated by priming (imprinting), training, clonal cooperation, and an integrated perception of objects. The discussion part highlights evolutionary aspects.