As humans, we heavily depend on our five senses. These senses help us process the world around us by sending a variety of signals for our brains to interpret, whether that be our favorite ice cream flavor or the sudden sting of a cold breeze.
Now, scientists have discovered what they are calling our “sixth sense”: the ability for our gut microbes to communicate with our brain in real time. Published in Nature, this breakthrough study outlines how there is a direct line of communication between the gut and the brain, and changes what we thought we knew about this important partnership at work inside our bodies.
A New Way to Understand the Gut-Brain Axis
The connection between our gut microbiome and our brain is nothing new. Often referred to as the gut-brain axis, this collection of nerve pathways constantly sends signals back and forth that can inform our metabolism, gastrointestinal issues, and even our mental health.
For this study, researchers were interested in approaching the gut-brain relationship in a new way.
“We were curious whether the body could sense microbial patterns in real time and not just as an immune or inflammatory response, but as a neural response that guides behavior in real time,” said Diego Bohórquez, a professor of medicine and neurobiology at Duke University School of Medicine, in a press release.
Through this new approach, they discovered what they call a “neurobiotic sense,” a system in which the brain responds in real time to what the microbes in the gut are saying — similar to how our other senses report and respond to stimuli instantaneously.
Read More: The Gut Microbiome Could Improve Diagnosis and Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
What Is a Neurobiotic Sense?
The two key players in this new process are neuropods and flagellin. Neuropods are the cells in our gut that allow signals to be sent to the brain, usually through the vagus nerve. Flagellins are proteins released by our gut bacteria when we eat that are then picked up by receptors, passed on to neuropods, and sent off to the brain as quickly as a text message between phones. Once the brain becomes aware of the presence of flagellin, it often responds by prompting an immune response, triggering inflammation, or causing certain neural behaviors.
In this study, scientists hyper-focused on one specific area of gut-brain interactions: appetite. They suggest that flagellin present in the colon can directly influence neuropods to say that our tummy is full, even when it isn’t. This is the neurobiotic sense, where gut microbes can have a direct and immediate effect on our behavior as regulated by our brain.
Is Our Sixth Sense the New GLP-1?
To test their neurobiotic sense theory, researchers turned to mice. A group of fasting mice was given a small dose of flagellin into their colons. Although they hadn’t had anything to eat since the previous day, the mice dosed with the flagellin ate significantly less than another group of mice without the necessary receptors to send these gut-brain messages. The fact that the group of mice with receptors responded to the flagellin by eating less proves that the neural pathways between the gut and the brain play an important and immediate role in how much we eat.
In the future, it may be possible to harness this sixth sense and use it to fight against many behavioral patterns and problems that stem from those chatty microbes in our gut.
“Looking ahead, I think this work will be especially helpful for the broader scientific community to explain how our behavior is influenced by microbes,” said Bohórquez in the press release. “One clear next step is to investigate how specific diets change the microbial landscape in the gut. That could be a key piece of the puzzle in conditions like obesity or psychiatric disorders.”
This article is not offering medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
Read More: Probiotics Could Battle Anxiety, Leading to New Treatments for Mental Health
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Nature. A gut sense for a microbial pattern regulates feeding
Cleveland Clinic. The Gut-Brain Connection
PubMed. Neuropod Cells: Emerging Biology of the Gut-Brain Sensory Transduction
As the marketing coordinator at Discover Magazine, Stephanie Edwards interacts with readers across Discover's social media channels and writes digital content. Offline, she is a contract lecturer in English & Cultural Studies at Lakehead University, teaching courses on everything from professional communication to Taylor Swift, and received her graduate degrees in the same department from McMaster University. You can find more of her science writing in Lab Manager and her short fiction in anthologies and literary magazine across the horror genre.
