Blood pressure pulsations modulate central neuronal activity via mechanosensitive ion channels. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38301001/)

These scientists wanted to understand how the heartbeat affects our brain activity. They did an experiment using the brains of rats. They discovered that the pulsations of blood pressure in the arteries can directly change how the brain cells in the olfactory bulb (the part of the brain that helps us smell) work.

They found that these changes in the brain cells' activity were not caused by signals passing between the cells, but by a special channel in the cells that responds to pressure. This channel helps the brain cells communicate with each other and affects how often they send electrical signals.

To see if this happens in real life, they also studied awake rats. They found that the rats' heartbeat influenced the activity of some brain cells in the olfactory bulb very quickly, within about 20 milliseconds. This means that our brain can use this fast mechanism to change how we perceive things, like when we become more alert or awake.

So, these scientists discovered that the heartbeat can directly affect our brain activity, especially in the olfactory bulb, which helps us smell things. This could also happen in other parts of the brain, which could change how we experience and perceive the world around us.

Jammal Salameh L., Bitzenhofer SH., Hanganu-Opatz IL., Dutschmann M., Egger V. Blood pressure pulsations modulate central neuronal activity via mechanosensitive ion channels. Science. 2024 Feb 2;383(6682):eadk8511. doi: 10.1126/science.adk8511. Epub 2024 Feb 2.