Trained Immunity in Neuroscience: Immune Memory in Brain Health and Disease

The central nervous system (CNS) was traditionally considered an immune-privileged site; however, growing evidence demonstrates that it exhibits highly dynamic immunological responses during injury, infection, and neurodegenerative processes. Trained immunity, the long-term functional reprogramming of innate immune cells leading to enhanced or altered responses upon subsequent challenges, has emerged as a critical mechanism linking neuroinflammation to neurological disease progression.

This Special Issue focuses on the role of trained immunity within brain-resident immune cells, including microglia, as well as peripheral myeloid-derived cells that influence CNS pathology. Contributions are invited that explore molecular, epigenetic, and metabolic mechanisms underlying innate immune memory in neurological conditions such as ischemic brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders, neuroinfections, and brain tumors. Particular emphasis is placed on the heterogeneity of trained immune responses across disease contexts and their implications for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic intervention.

Submissions may include original research, systematic and narrative reviews, mini-reviews, perspectives, short communications, computational or systems-level studies (including bioinformatics and multi-omics analyses), translational research, and clinical investigations. By integrating basic neuroscience, immunology, and clinical research, this Special Issue aims to advance understanding of neuro-trained immunity and foster innovative strategies for neurological disease management.