Nausea is a universally unwelcome feeling, but despite such widespread aversion, very little has been learned about the mechanism that causes an organism to vomit. That’s now changed with a report published yesterday in Cell that describes a neural pathway that purportedly controls retching in mice. The finding could lay the foundation for the development of new antinausea drugs, particularly for chemotherapy patients, according to a news release from the journal.
When someone eats food containing certain bacteria, the microbes generate toxins that are detected by the brain. The brain then induces a variety of defensive responses designed to get the toxins out of the body. These include retching and vomiting, the study authors write, as well as feelings of nausea, which they say teaches the host to avoid the contaminated food in the future. Although these toxin responses are typically useful for survival, they are also responsible for a ...
