Immunological Memory
For more details on this topic, see Immunity (medical).When B cells and T cells are activated some will become memory cells. Throughout the lifetime of an animal these memory cells form a database of effective B and T lymphocytes. Upon interaction with a previously encountered antigen, the appropriate memory cells are selected and activated. In this manner, the second and subsequent exposures to an antigen produce a stronger and faster immune response. This is "adaptive" because the body's immune system prepares itself for future challenges. Immunological memory can either be in the form of passive short-term memory or active long-term memory.
Read more about this topic: Adaptive Immune System
Famous quotes containing the word memory:
“‘I’m sorry that I spelt the word:
I hate to go above you,
Because’Mthe brown eyes lower fell—
‘Because, you see, I love you!’
Still memory to a grey-haired man
That sweet child-face is showing.
Dear girl! the grasses on her grave
Have forty years been growing.”
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)