![]() ![]() ![]() Untangling those hormonal and neural effects has been difficult because there hasn’t been a good way to rapidly measure the neuronal signals, which occur within milliseconds. Sensory cells in the gut influence hunger and satiety via both the neuronal communication and hormone release. Credit: Courtesy of the researchersĪs part of the center’s work, Anikeeva set out to probe the signals that pass between the brain and the nervous system of the gut, also called the enteric nervous system. But now we know there’s a lot of feedback back into the brain, and this feedback potentially controls some of the functions that we have previously attributed exclusively to the central neural control.”ĭuke University postdoc Laura Rupprecht, MIT graduate student Atharva Sahasrabudhe, and MIT postdoc Sirma Orguc in the lab. “For a long time, we thought the brain is a tyrant that sends output into the organs and controls everything. “There’s continuous, bidirectional crosstalk between the body and the brain,” Anikeeva says. Research at the center focuses on illuminating how these interactions help to shape behavior and overall health, with a goal of developing future therapies for a variety of diseases. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center to study the interplay between the brain and other organs of the body. Last year, the McGovern Institute launched the K. ![]() The paper’s lead authors are MIT graduate student Atharva Sahasrabudhe, Duke University postdoc Laura Rupprecht, MIT postdoc Sirma Orguc, and former MIT postdoc Tural Khudiyev. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center, associate director of MIT’s Research Laboratory of Electronics, and a member of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research.Īnikeeva is the senior author of the new study, which was published on June 22 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. Salapatas Professor in Materials Science and Engineering, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences, director of the K. More importantly, we have the ability to start accessing the crosstalk between the gut and the brain with the millisecond precision of optogenetics, and we can do it in behaving animals,” says Polina Anikeeva, the Matoula S. ![]() “The exciting thing here is that we now have technology that can drive gut function and behaviors such as feeding. These flexible fibers, which are embedded with sensors and light sources, can be used to manipulate and monitor the connections between the brain and the digestive tract. Using fibers embedded with a variety of sensors, as well as light sources for optogenetic stimulation, the researchers have shown that they can control neural circuits connecting the gut and the brain, in mice. MIT engineers have designed a new technology for probing those connections. This extensive communication network also influences our mental state and has been implicated in many neurological disorders. The brain and the digestive tract are in constant communication, relaying signals that help to control feeding and other behaviors. MIT engineers have developed a new optogenetic technology that can manipulate the neurological connections between the brain and gut, potentially offering insights into the links between digestive health and neurological conditions. Unraveling Connections Between the Brain and Gut This opens up new possibilities for exploring the link between digestive health and neurological conditions such as autism and Parkinson’s disease. The technology has been demonstrated in mice, where manipulation of cells in the intestine led to feelings of fullness or reward-seeking behavior. MIT engineers have developed a technology to study the interplay between the brain and digestive system by using fibers embedded with sensors and light sources for optogenetic stimulation. ![]()
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