Researchers from the University of Cambridge and Dartmouth College developed a device thinner than a human hair designed to sit between colon layers unnoticed, capturing signals sent up to the brain and pulses it received in return. This crucial information pathway makes up the enteric nervous system (ENS), an often overlooked branch compared with the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. The ENS, with up to 600 million neurons – made up of 20 different types of these nerve cells – is the gatekeeper of the gastrointestinal tract, involved in all its complex processes and movements, and plays a key role when things go wrong.

"Because the ENS neural activity is 'dampened' down under anaesthesia, the ability to record in awake animals is crucial, as it allows recording of the ENS while the animal experiences stress or during and after eating," explained lead researcher Róisín Owens, from Cambridge's Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology. "This new technology will build a better understanding how the gut and brain communicate, and it could lead to new treatments for digestive and neurological disorders."