The gut sense: Sensory neurobiology and food perception

Today
Dr. Maya Kaelberer and her research group focus on understanding how the gut senses and responds to the complex composition of food.
Promotional image for the Science Talks Podcast Episode 67 featuring Maya Kaelberer, discussing "The Gut Sense: Sensory Neurobiology and Perception." The image includes the BIO5 Institute and University of Arizona logos.

The BIO5 Institute's Amy Barber was joined by one of the University’s experts on gut biome, Dr. Maya Kaelberer, sensory neuro-gastroenterologist and assistant professor of physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson.  

Dr. Kaelberer is working to understand how the gut senses and responds to the complex composition of food, going beyond traditional calorie counting. The main goal of Kaelberer lab at the University of Arizona is to “decipher the nutritional code" by which the gut identifies and reacts to various nutrients, shaping our food preferences and potentially influencing long-term health.

Listen in as they discuss sensory cells in the gut, sugar and the gut biome, and recent discoveries in her work.

Three things you will learn in this episode:

  • What are neuropods?
  • Gut response to real versus artificial sugar
  • The scientific community of "gastronauts"