Could boosting gut–brain communication prevent memory loss? A tale of microbes, memory, and our internal senses | Christophe Thaiss

Our memories and senses are deeply connected—like how a favorite song can recreate a whole glorious teenage summer. It turns out this relationship might extend beyond our five external senses to include our internal senses: the signals telling us what's happening inside our bodies, sometimes beyond the veil of conscious perception.
New research by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute affiliate Christoph Thaiss (neuroscience.stanford.edu/people/christoph-tha…) suggests that losing these internal signals as we age — in part due to changes in our gut microbiome — could one reason why our memories decline as we get older.
Today we're talking with Thaiss about his new study in Nature (med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2026/03/gut-bra…) that traces a surprising path from gut microbes to memory formation in the mouse brain.
Learn More

• Enhancing gut-brain communication reversed cognitive decline, improved memory formation in aging mice (med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2026/03/gut-bra…) (Stanford Medicine, 2026)
• Intestinal interoceptive dysfunction drives age-associated cognitive decline (nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10191-6). (Nature, 2026)
• Christoph's presentation (youtu.be/BXEtTZ272jc?si=5txXmDsoUrSYqnem) at Wu Tsai Neuro's 2025 Annual Symposium
• Neuroscientists Dive into the Gut (neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/neuroscientists…)(Wu Tsai Neuro, 2025)
• The Thaiss Lab (arcinstitute.org/labs/thaisslab) at the Arc Institute
• Thaiss Lab publications (arcinstitute.org/labs/thaisslab)
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