Have you ever had a ‘gut feeling?’ That moment when you just knew? Did you ever wonder why that was? Research is starting to make inroads towards an answer.
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.
It was found that “gut signals are transmitted at epithelial-neural synapses through the release of … serotonin.”
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.
Source: Big Think
