Mind & Matter
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.
The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.
Not medical advice.
At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.
As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.
My beliefs:
- Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.
- All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.
- Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.
Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:
- “Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)
- “Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)
- “Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Mind & Matter
Neuro-Immune Interactions: Pain, Inflammation, Peptides & Healing | Isaac Chiu | Episode 303
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
How the nervous and immune systems communicate, using peptides and other signals, to regulate pain, itch, and inflammation.
TOPICS DISCUSSED:
- Nociception & Pathogens: Sensory neurons detect bacterial toxins within seconds, enabling rapid host-defense coordination ahead of immune-cell recruitment.
- CGRP & neutrophils: Nociceptor-release the peptide CGRP, which blocks neutrophil (immune cell) recruitment; pathogens exploit this in necrotizing fasciitis and meningitis.
- Pain sensitization: Inflammation can lower neuronal thresholds for pain, which sometimes becomes a chronic problem.
- Gut barrier protection: CGRP from gut nociceptors drives goblet-cell mucus secretion, supporting the protective “weep and sweep” response.
- Skin-to-gut allergy priming: Early skin exposure to allergens plus scratching may promote food allergies.
- Vagus nerve circuits: Distinct vagal sensory neurons selectively suppress TNF or induce IL-10, allowing precise inflammatory control.
- Brain inflammatory memory: Insular neurons encode site-specific immune responses that can later be recalled by reactivating those circuits. The brain remembers past inflammatory events.
ABOUT THE GUEST: Isaac Chiu, PhD is a professor in the Department of Immunology at Harvard Medical School. His lab studies nervous-immune system crosstalk in pain, itch, infection, and inflammatory disease.
RELATED CONTENT:
Article | Inflammation Regulation by Omega Fats: How High ω-6 Intake Impacts ω-3 Levels
Support my work:
- Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
- Affiliate Partners: Visit this link to see my affiliate partners and get discounts codes for products & services to support health.
For all the ways you can support my efforts.
