The Ruth Pauley Speakers series will welcome Dr. Diego Bohórquez, Ph.D., on Jan. 20 for a compelling exploration into one of the fastest-growing fields in modern science: the gut-brain axis. Dr. Bohórquez, an Associate Professor of Medicine and Neurobiology at Duke University, is internationally recognized for identifying neuropods, the gut’s sensory cells that directly communicate with the brain. His lecture, The Gut-Brain Connection and Neuropods, will offer the public a rare opportunity to hear how this emerging science is reshaping our understanding of digestion, cravings, behavior, and disease.
Dr. Bohórquez describes his work plainly and powerfully. “I am a gut-brain neuroscientist,” he says. “My focus is to unveil how the brain perceives what the gut feels, how food in the intestine is sensed by our body, and how a sensory signal from a nutrient is transformed into an electrical signal that alters behavior.”
His research, published widely in journals including Nature and featured on major science platforms like The Transmitter and the Huberman Lab podcast, has placed him at the forefront of this scientific frontier.
The path that led to his groundbreaking discoveries began with a deeply personal moment. While pursuing his doctoral degree in nutrition, a friend confided in him about her struggle with obesity and her decision to undergo gastric bypass surgery. The outcome was medically dramatic, resolving her diabetes and reducing her body weight, but what captivated Dr. Bohórquez was something far more unexpected. “The most striking part of her story for me was that her perception of taste had been markedly transformed,” he explained. “Reshaping her gut caused her brain to convert a prior repulsion at the appearance of runny egg yolk into a strong craving to eat those same eggs.”
This shift raised a question that would eventually define his career: how could altering the gut reshape perception in the brain? At the time, gut cells involved in digestion were believed to act primarily as hormone-releasing sensors that slowly, over minutes or hours, influenced appetite and metabolism. There was no recognized mechanism for rapid gut-to-brain communication. Yet his friend’s experience suggested something faster and more complex was at work.
Driven by this curiosity, Dr. Bohórquez pursued the idea that certain gut cells might function more like neurons. After years of investigation, he and his team discovered that enteroendocrine cells form synapses with nerves. These cells, which he named “neuropods,” establish a direct electrical circuit between the gut and the brain. “Neuropods are the gut’s sensory portal,” he has explained in interviews. “They translate information from food into signals the brain can understand instantly.”
This discovery reframed how scientists understand cravings, satiety, digestion, and even emotional reactions to food. It also revealed a sensory system in the intestine that parallels the taste system in the tongue. Instead of acting slowly through hormones alone, neuropods allow the gut to send rapid, precise messages that influence behavior in real time. As Dr. Bohórquez describes it, “The gut has a voice, and neuropods are its messengers.”
The implications extend far beyond nutrition. The gut-brain axis affects anxiety, depression, metabolic disorders, eating behaviors, and conditions involving food aversion or altered perception. “We are still a long way from understanding the full details of these intriguing conversations between our gut and our brain,” he has said. “But the more we understand, the closer we are getting to treating disorders involving alterations in the perception of food in our gut.”
At the upcoming Ruth Pauley Speakers event, Dr. Bohórquez will delve into how neuropods sense specific nutrients, how they interface with the nervous system, and how these interactions shape our daily decisions. He will also discuss potential therapeutic pathways that could emerge from decoding this sensory system, including new approaches to obesity, diabetes, gastrointestinal disease, and mood disorders.
The public will have the opportunity to ask questions during a concluding Q&A session, a hallmark of the Ruth Pauley Speakers tradition of open, accessible dialogue on leading ideas. The series, created to bring world-class thinkers to the Sandhills, continues its mission of presenting emerging research that informs, inspires, and strengthens public knowledge.
The event will be held at Owens Auditorium at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center. While admission is free, tickets are required, and events often reach capacity. For more information about the Ruth Pauley Speakers series upcoming events and to get tickets, visit RuthPauley.org or TicketMeSandhills.com.
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