We usually think of bodily sensations as signals the brain receives- pain, itch, warmth- information flowing one way. But new research suggests that how we pay attention to those sensations can feed back and change the body’s biological response itself.
A study led by Dr. Liron Rozenkrantz at Bar-Ilan University’s Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, published in Nature Human Behavior, shows that attention can influence the body’s inflammatory response.
In three preregistered experiments, 57 healthy volunteers underwent a standardized procedure that produced a small, temporary inflammation in the skin of their arm. Participants were then instructed either to:
Focus on sensations from the inflamed area, or direct their attention elsewhere.
Researchers measured the inflammatory response for 20 minutes, along with physiological markers like heart-rate variability, skin temperature, and autonomic activity.
Almost 90% of participants exhibited less inflammation than usual when they were trained to concentrate specifically on the inflamed area. These responses were, on average, about one-and-a-half times smaller than when individuals distracted themselves. When attention was directed inward, recovery to baseline also took place more rapidly, reflecting the potency of focused awareness in governing bodily repair.
“What was particularly striking was that directing attention toward the inflamed area changed not only what participants experienced, but the inflammatory response itself,” said Dr. Rozenkrantz. “This raises the possibility that our subjective experience of what is happening in the body is not only a passive process, but may be actively contributing to how physiological responses are regulated.”
The team identified two complementary mechanisms:
Sensory signals from the inflamed tissue; and a top-down pathway, where attention continued to influence inflammation even when sensory signals were reduced using a local anesthetic.
Together, these findings suggest that attention can shape inflammation through both direct sensory input and brain-driven regulation.
Inflammation is a fundamental biological process, involved in wound healing and immunology as well as chronic diseases. It raises some interesting possibilities, one of which is that attention itself may modulate inflammation:
Could focusing inward help speed recovery from injury?
Might attention training influence chronic inflammatory conditions or autoimmune disease?
The study stops short of answering these questions. It involved healthy volunteers and a controlled model of acute skin inflammation. Whether the same mechanisms apply to chronic conditions remains unknown.
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The researchers plan to identify the precise brain and immune pathways involved and test whether similar effects occur in other systems.
Journal Reference:
- Mizrachi, N., Rottem, M. & Rozenkrantz, L. Voluntary attention regulates acute immune responses in humans. Nat Hum Behav (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-026-02541-1
