Uncovering the Link Between Gut and Brain Health

Researchers at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research have successfully used a minimally invasive vibrating capsule to measure neural responses during gastrointestinal stimulation, providing a novel approach to study the gut-brain connection. The capsule was developed by Vibrant Ltd. and participants in the study included healthy adult male and female volunteers ages 18-40. The researchers discovered the "gastric evoked potential," a late neural response in certain areas of the brain specifically induced by capsule stimulation, providing a new way to measure and understand the neural processes governing the gut-brain connection. The vibrating capsule method could transform the clinical approach to disorders of gut-brain interaction, including eating disorders and certain gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or functional dyspepsia.