In this issue of Neuron, Chakrabarty et al. (2015) and Guillot-Sestier et al. (2015) reveal that the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 inhibits Aβ clearance by microglia, worsening cognitive decline in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). These studies provide further support that pro-inflammatory signaling is an innate immune defense mechanism in AD.

Approaching psychological defense mechanisms from the perspective of an evolved strategy, it is proposed that there are two basic templates-dissociation and cognitive distortions. Frequently conceived of as pathological, these psychological phenomena actually constitute overlapping spectrums with milder manifestations being common and highly functional, and more severe variants less common and ...

The self-nonself discrimination is germline encoded for defense mechanisms, but it is somatically learned for the immune system and this is the fundamental difference between the two. When referring to the defense mechanisms of vertebrates, immunologists like to use the term "innate immune systems" to describe the germline encoded class of defense mechanism. It was the acquisition of a somatica...

Cellular senescence is a defense mechanism in response to molecular damage which accumulates with aging. Correspondingly, the number of senescent cells has been reported to be greater in older than in younger subjects and furthermore associates with age-related pathologies. Inter-individual differences exist in the rate at which a person ages (biological age). Here, we studied whether younger b...

Employing a method, described in an earlier publication, for testing the pneumococcidal activity of serum-leucocyte mixtures, a study has been made of the pneumococcus-destroying properties of the blood of a relatively susceptible animal, the rabbit, for pneumococci of low virulence for the species. It was found that rabbit serum-leucocyte mixtures possessed the power to kill avirulent pneumoco...

In order to reduce pollution and strive for a cleaner environment, significant efforts are being made to develop alternatives to synthetic pesticides for the control of plant diseases. A promising alternative is to stimulate the natural resistance of plants. Recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms of the expression of plant defense mechanisms when attacked by disease causing path...

Pelagic prokaryote communities are often dominated by the SAR11 clade. The recent discovery of viruses infecting this clade led to the suggestion that such dominance could not be explained by assuming SAR11 to be a defense specialist and that the explanation therefore should be sought in its competitive abilities. The issue is complicated by the fact that prokaryotes may develop strains differi...

Experiments on the ultimatum game have revealed that humans are remarkably fond of fair play. When asked to share an amount of money, unfair offers are rare and their acceptance rate small. While empathy and spatiality may lead to the evolution of fairness, thus far considered continuous strategies have precluded the observation of solutions that would be driven by pattern formation. Here we in...