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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Real-time Analysis of Gut-brain Neural Communication: Cortex wide Calcium Dynamics in Response to Intestinal Glucose Stimulation
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The gut-brain axis mediates sugar preference.

Hwei-Ee Tan1,2, Alexander C Sisti1,3, Hao Jin1,3

  • 1Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

Nature
|April 24, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

A newly discovered gut-to-brain pathway explains sugar preference. Neurons in the vagal ganglia and brainstem activate after sugar ingestion, driving preference independent of taste receptors.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Gastroenterology
  • Sensory Perception

Background:

  • Sugar preference is a fundamental behavior observed across species, even in the absence of sweet taste receptors.
  • The neural mechanisms underlying sugar preference, particularly those independent of taste, remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural basis of sugar preference.
  • To identify the gut-brain axis pathways involved in mediating sugar preference.
  • To differentiate the neural responses to sugar versus artificial sweeteners.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized functional imaging to monitor gut-brain axis activity in response to intestinal glucose delivery.
  • Identified specific vagal neurons activated by glucose in the gut.
  • Genetically silenced neuronal activity in the identified gut-to-brain circuit in mice.
  • Employed chemogenetic activation to manipulate circuit activity and assess behavioral preferences.

Main Results:

  • Demonstrated that a specific population of vagal and brainstem neurons are activated by post-ingestive sugar, not artificial sweeteners.
  • Showed that silencing this gut-to-brain circuit prevents the development of sugar preference in mice.
  • Confirmed that activating this circuit can induce preference for normally less-preferred substances.

Conclusions:

  • Revealed a critical gut-to-brain post-ingestive sugar-sensing pathway essential for developing sugar preference.
  • Provided a neural explanation for the distinct behavioral effects of sugar compared to artificial sweeteners.
  • Uncovered a key neural circuit responsible for the highly appetitive nature of sugar.