While it is clear that bacteria in the gut and neurons communicate (the microbiota-gut- brain axis), regulating brain health and behavior, fundamental questions in this field are still wide-open. Most of the research carried out so far has focused on molecular mechanisms and not – as we propose – on top- down, information-based approaches, which are required to extract high-level meaning from biochemical mechanisms. Here, we will move beyond our initial Brain-bacteria Interface (BBI), the first integrated electrical-optical neural-bacteria to extract real-time information across biological entities, to develop the first hi-BBI. Taking advantage of the multidisciplinary and world-renowned expertise of the researchers which will be involved in the project, we will develop and exploit the hi-BBI and by coupling a complex artificial multi-organism platform with machine learning and innovative sensing devices, we aim to discover fundamental aspects of the bidirectional communication between gut bacteria and neurons.

Organisations involved: Complutense University of Madrid (UCM; Faculty of Biological Sciences; Madrid, Spain), University of Torino (Unito; Molecular Biotechnology Center; Torino, Italy), Politecnico di Torino (Torino, Italy), Tufts University (Boston, MA, US)

Contacts:
Stefano Geuna