Neuroscience of ‘Gut Feelings’

Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

Note: this article was originally published elsewhere last year.

1. A recent study led by Melanie Maya Kaelberer of Duke along with a team of others looked at mice to determine how the stomach communicated with the brain. Historically, it was believed that the stomach communicated with the brain indirectly — typically through something called neuropeptide signaling (peptides are like proteins but smaller; neurons use neuropeptides to communicate); however, the results from this study suggest something much more direct, much more nuanced, and a little bit more complicated.
2. It was found that “gut signals are transmitted at epithelial-neural synapses through the release of … serotonin.”
3. Let’s break that down — first by quoting the National Institute of Health: “Epithelial cells form barriers that separate different biological compartments in the body.” They have a role in regulating what is communicated and what is carried between these different compartments.
4. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter. A neurotransmitter is a chemical that is released when a signal arrives from somewhere else in the body and acts as a bridge for the signal to move from one neuron to the next.
5. What makes the result of the study noteworthy is the fact that — in addition to neuropeptides — “further studies revealed that…