Tiny device to transform understanding of 'second brain'

Scientists have been able to measure the electrical signals in the ‘second brain in our guts’ for the first-ever time, giving renewed understanding to its interconnection with the brain.

Researchers from the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) and Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, and Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth have created a miniature device, thinner than the width of a hair, that can be placed between the layers of the colon to record these signals.

The device, a soft, flexible electronic implant, has been tested in rodents and pigs so far and works even in freely moving animals, detecting responses to various stimulants and physical pressure.

CEB’s Bioelectronic Systems Technology group research leader Róisín Owens said: “Because the ENS neural activity is ‘dampened’ down under anaesthesia, the ability to record in awake animals is crucial, as it allows recording of the ENS while the animal experiences stress or during and after eating.

“This new technology will build a better understanding how the gut and brain communicate, and it could lead to new treatments for digestive and neurological disorders.”

They believe the secret to many neurological disorders lie in the way the enteric nervous system (ENS), the gut’s own complex nervous system, and the brain interact. But it has been hard to study this interaction previously, as the gut is constantly moving and neurons are spread out and hard to reach.

The tiny device could be inserted laparoscopically as an outpatient procedure, enabling researchers to investigate like never before.

Co-first author Dr Alex Boys, Dartmouth, said: “This platform creates a pathway to a variety of therapeutic interventions in the gut, which has connotations for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, gastroparesis, and others.

“The gut’s nervous system has been historically difficult to access, and we show here not only that it can be done, but that we can extract fairly intricate information.”

Co-first author Dr Amparo Güemes Gonzalez added: “With our chronic implant technology, we can, for the first time, record real-time electrophysiology signals from the ‘second brain’ in the gut over extended periods.

“This allows us to study how the gut responds to physiological stimuli, such as stress, and how it reacts to treatments or dietary changes, something that wasn’t possible with previous methods. This opens the door to a much deeper understanding of gut–brain communication and its impact on health.

“It was just not possible to do this before.”

The paper, Implantable Bioelectronics for Gut Electrophysiology, has been published in Nature Communications today.

Main image: Robert Anderson