Targeting the gut-brain connection can impact immunity

(Duke University) The brain and the gut are connected through neural networks that signal hunger and satiety, love and fear, even safety and danger. These networks employ myriad chemical signals that include the powerful neurotransmitter dopamine. Duke University researchers have shown that manipulating dopamine signaling in the nervous system of the worm C. elegans can control inflammation in the gut. The study demonstrates that the immune system might be controlled using drugs originally designed to target the nervous system, such as antipsychotics.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2aOZgcu