A multiscale inflammatory map: linking individual stress to societal dysfunction.

As populations worldwide show increasing levels of stress, understanding emerging links among stress, inflammation, cognition, and behavior is vital to human and planetary health. We hypothesize that inflammation is a multiscale driver connecting stressors that affect individuals to large-scale societal dysfunction and, ultimately, to planetary-scale environmental impacts. We propose a 'central inflammation map' hypothesis to explain how the brain regulates inflammation and how inflammation impairs cognition, emotion, and action.