Tierno Lauer L, Hayes AMR, Suarez AN, Bashaw A, Klug ME, Kao AE, Cheng R, Rea JJ, Subramanian KS, Nourbash A, Donohue KN, Schier LA, Myers K, Décarie-Spain L, Kanoski SE (2026) The vagus nerve promotes memory in rats via nutrient-induced septo-hippocampal acetylcholine signaling. Nat Commun doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-73896-2 PMID: 42236727
Objective: To demonstrate that nutrient consumption promotes hippocampal-dependent memory function via vagus nerve-mediated acetylcholine (ACh) release in the dorsal hippocampus (HPCd) from medial septum (MS) neurons
Summary: Recent findings highlight a role for vagus nerve-mediated gut-brain signaling in regulating higher-order cognitive processes. MS cholinergic neuron ablation, subdiaphragmatic vagotomy, and Western Diet impaired memory for meal location, suggesting that this signaling pathway functions to promote memories for eating events. Collectively, results identify a neurobiological mechanism whereby nutrient consumption enhances memory function and suggest that disruption of this vagal-brain signaling system mediates WD-associated memory impairments.
Usage: Rats were injected with either a 192-IgG-SAP (IT-01) in the MS (to ablate MS cholinergic neurons) or a control saporin (PR-01).
Related Products: 192-IgG-SAP (Cat. #IT-01), Saporin (Cat. #PR-01)