https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03802-x Skip to main content Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement Advertisement Nature * View all journals * Search * My Account Login * Explore content * About the journal * Publish with us Subscribe * Sign up for alerts * RSS feed 1. nature 2. news & views 3. article * NEWS AND VIEWS * 10 January 2022 Inflammation in the gut is encoded by neurons in the brain The nervous and immune systems interact in a bidirectional manner. It emerges that inflammation in the body activates brain cells that, when later reactivated, can trigger a recapitulation of the inflammatory response. * David Brea ^0 & * Henrique Veiga-Fernandes ^1 1. David Brea 1. David Brea is at the Champalimaud Foundation, Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar 2. Henrique Veiga-Fernandes 1. Henrique Veiga-Fernandes is at the Champalimaud Foundation, Champalimaud Research, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar * Twitter * Facebook * Email Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Interactions between the nervous and the immune systems have been a topic of great interest over the past few decades. Neuronal signals can affect immune functions, and immune cells can modulate the activity of neurons in the brain and spinal cord, or in the rest of the body (known as the periphery), in health and disease^1^,^2. Writing in Cell, Koren et al.^3 demonstrate that inflammation in the abdominal cavity results in the stimulation of certain neurons in a brain area called the insular cortex, or the insula. Artificial reactivation of these 'immune-imprinted' neurons is sufficient to generate organ-specific recall of inflammatory responses that resemble the initial inflammatory episode. Access options Access through your institution Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year $199.00 only $3.90 per issue Subscribe All prices are NET prices. VAT will be added later in the checkout. Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent or Buy article Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube. from$8.99 Rent or Buy All prices are NET prices. Additional access options: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03802-x References 1. 1. Chesne, J., Cardoso, V. & Veiga-Fernandes, H. Mucosal Immunol. 12 , 10-20 (2019). PubMed Article Google Scholar 2. 2. Huh, J. R. & Veiga-Fernandes, H. Nature Rev. Immunol. 20, 217-228 (2020). PubMed Article Google Scholar 3. 3. Koren, T. et al. Cell 184, 5902-5915 (2021). PubMed Article Google Scholar 4. 4. Kipnis, J. Science 353, 766-771 (2016). PubMed Article Google Scholar 5. 5. Dantzer, R. Physiol. Rev. 98, 477-504 (2018). PubMed Article Google Scholar 6. 6. Cardoso, F. et al. Nature 597, 410-414 (2021). PubMed Article Google Scholar 7. 7. Godinho-Silva, C. et al. Nature 574, 254-258 (2019). PubMed Article Google Scholar 8. 8. Klose, C. S. N. & Veiga-Fernandes, H. Eur. J. Immunol. 51, 1602-1614 (2021). PubMed Article Google Scholar 9. 9. Veiga-Fernandes, H. & Mucida, D. Cell 165, 801-811 (2016). PubMed Article Google Scholar 10. 10. Wendeln, A. C. et al. Nature 556, 332-338 (2018). PubMed Article Google Scholar Download references Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests. 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