Hide-and-sick: How bacteria manipulate a neural circuit that makes you sick

Neuron. 2024 May 1;112(9):1381-1383. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.04.005.

Abstract

Infections frequently cause behavioral changes, known as sickness behavior. In a recent study,1 Yipp and collaborators discovered a sensory circuit that is activated by a bacterial lipopolysaccharide during lung infection and drives sickness behaviors independent of inflammation. Biofilm-producing bacteria, however, avoid activating this lung-brain circuit, resulting in infection without sickness behavior.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biofilms
  • Brain
  • Humans
  • Illness Behavior* / physiology
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Nerve Net / physiology

Substances

  • Lipopolysaccharides