Re:Bacteria store memories and pass them on for generations
by hollerith on Wednesday November 22, 2023 @08:54AM
(#38379148)
Over half of all neurotransmitters originates in the gut, but the barrier preventing the entry of neurotransmitters into the brain is very effective in healthy individuals.
Signals from the gut to the brain arrive via the vagus nerve and probably also the other cranial nerves.
Re:Bacteria store memories and pass them on for generations
by culi on Wednesday November 22, 2023 @09:11AM
(#38379367)
Interesting! The way I've often heard it is that "over half of neurotransmitters originate in the gut" — making it sound like it's talking about the neurotransmitters already at the brain. Do you have any citations that could clarify this?
Re:Bacteria store memories and pass them on for generations
by tux3 on Wednesday November 22, 2023 @10:20AM
(#38380406)
Neurotransmitters are used all over the body. A lot is centralized in the brain, but the periphery also uses neurons and neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters in general don't particularly imply they're being used in the brain. Some neurotransmitters travel through the body, but a larger fraction are produced locally by a cell and intended only for close neighbors.
Possibly related: it turns out horizontal gene transfer is way more common in humans than we could expect and we really don't have a good explanation for how it's happening
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5379729/