The gut-brain vagal axis scales hippocampal memory processes and plasticity

Jun 17, 2024Neurobiology of disease

The gut-brain nerve pathway influences memory and brain adaptability in the hippocampus

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Abstract

The integrity of the vagal axis is essential for long-term recognition memories.

The vagus nerve connects the body and brain, influencing learning and memory.
Long-term recognition memories are impacted by the gut-brain vagal axis, while other memory types remain unaffected.
The gut-brain vagal tone is involved in regulating cellular signaling, gene expression, and dendritic spine density in the hippocampus.
Functional long-term plasticity, including both long-term potentiation and long-term depression, is influenced by the vagal axis.
The findings suggest a critical role for the gut-brain vagal axis in the hippocampus's function and its learning capacities.

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The vagus nerve serves as an interoceptive relay between the body and the brain. Despite its well-established role in feeding behaviors, energy metabolism, and cognitive functions, the intricate functional processes linking the vagus nerve to the hippocampus and its contribution to learning and memory dynamics remain still elusive. Here, we investigated whether and how the gut-brain vagal axis contributes to hippocampal learning and memory processes at behavioral, functional, cellular, and molecular levels. Our results indicate that the integrity of the vagal axis is essential for long-term recognition memories, while sparing other forms of memory. In addition, by combing multi-scale approaches, our findings show that the gut-brain vagal tone exerts a permissive role in scaling intracellular signaling events, gene expressions, hippocampal dendritic spines density as well as functional long-term plasticities (LTD and LTP). These results highlight the critical role of the gut-brain vagal axis in maintaining the spontaneous and homeostatic functions of hippocampal ensembles and in regulating their learning and memory functions. In conclusion, our study provides comprehensive insights into the multifaceted involvement of the gut-brain vagal axis in shaping time-dependent hippocampal learning and memory dynamics. Understanding the mechanisms underlying this interoceptive body-brain neuronal communication may pave the way for novel therapeutic approaches in conditions associated with cognitive decline, including neurodegenerative disorders.

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The gut-brain vagal axis scales hippocampal memory processes and plasticity

Abstract

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