Episode Description
In this episode of Neural Compass, host Mark Jacobstein (co-founder and president of Jimini Health) sits down with Dr. Asya Rolls, award-winning neuroscientist and professor of neuroimmunology, to explore how belief and brain activity can directly influence the body’s immune response.
Dr. Rolls’ groundbreaking research reveals that the placebo effect is far more than a psychological illusion — it's a biological reality. By uncovering the neural pathways that connect motivation, emotion, and immune function, she’s helping reshape how we understand healing itself. This conversation takes us to the cutting edge of neuroimmunology and asks: what if belief is part of the cure?
This episode touches on:
- The surprising science behind the placebo effect
- How the brain “remembers” immune responses — and can reactivate them
- The role of the prefrontal cortex in turning on healing
- What it means to “want” to get better — and why it matters biologically
- The implications of belief-based healing for the future of care
"Epidemiology is full of evidence for a connection between stress, mental state, and emergence of disease."
Mentioned In This Episode
Insular cortex neurons encode and retrieve specific immune responses: Roll's work showcasing how the brain can store and retrieve specific immune responses, extending the classical concept of immunological memory to neuronal representations of inflammatory information.
About the Speakers
Asya Rolls, Guest
is an Israeli psychoneuroimmunologist renowned for her research on the interplay between the brain and the immune system. She earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Life Sciences from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, followed by a Ph.D. in neuroimmunology from the Weizmann Institute of Science. After completing her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University's Department of Psychiatry, Prof. Rolls returned to the Technion, where she served as a faculty member at the Rappaport Medical School until 2024. In 2024, she joined Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Life Sciences as a full professor. Her pioneering work has elucidated how mental states can influence physical health, including demonstrating that activation of the brain's reward system can enhance immune responses against infections and tumors. Prof. Rolls has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including multiple European Research Council grants, the Krill Prize, the Rappaport Prize for young scientists, and selection as an International Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Wellcome Trust Investigator (2018–2023). Learn more.
Mark Jacobstein is the co-founder and president of Jimini Health. A longtime entrepreneur at the intersection of AI and health tech, he now leads Jimini’s mission to transform mental and behavioral health through clinically grounded, AI-powered care.
For healthcare executives, researchers, investors, and anyone who thinks the mental health crisis deserves serious answers — this is the show.