Visceral Signals Shape Brain Dynamics and Cognition
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Dynamic Digital Biomarkers of Motor and Cognitive Function in Parkinson's Disease
Published on: July 24, 2019
Damiano Azzalini1, Ignacio Rebollo1, Catherine Tallon-Baudry1
1Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université PSL (Paris Sciences et Lettres), and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Paris, France.
Abstract:
Most research in cognitive neuroscience explores how external stimuli are processed by the brain. However, the brain also receives input from the internal body. We discuss here how the heart and gastrointestinal (GI) tract intrinsically generate their own electrical activity, thereby continuously sending information to the brain. These ongoing ascending signals actively shape brain dynamics at rest, complementing canonical resting-state networks (RSNs). Cardiac signals also influence the processing of external sensory information and the production of spontaneous, internal cognition. These findings are discussed in relation to interpretative frameworks regarding the functional role of visceral inputs. This active field of research offers a unique opportunity to draw new theories blurring the border between cognition, emotion, and consciousness, as well as between mind and body.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Dissonance
Molecular Shape and Polarity
VSEPR Theory and the Basic Shapes
Molecular Shapes
Two regions of electron density in a diatomic...
First Derivatives and the Shape of a Graph
Second Derivatives and the Shape of a Graph

