Speaker
Description
In this talk I will present a mathematical model that describes the interaction of gut and brain through the presence of serotonin and tryptophan. The neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in the brain and the gut from the amino acid tryptophan via an enzymatic reaction. However, tryptophan is not produced by the body, but is obtained from food. While serotonin cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, tryptophan can, and does. Since serotonin regulates digestion, mood, sleep, and other physical processes in response to stress, we build a model that describes the kinetics of its production and absorption. Because both tryptophan and serotonin are present in the gut and the brain, the tryptophan-serotonin pathway is a major communication route between the gut and the brain. This model extends previous models of serotonin and tryptophan focused in the brain. This work is a collaboration with Noah Avery Hughes, Harsh Jain, Steven R Lippold, Ami Radunskaya, Susmita Sadhu, and Sundar Tamang.
