Fig. 1: Body–brain axis controls the immune responses via the vagus nerve.

a Schematic representation of the bidirectional communication between the body organs and the CNS mediated by the vagus nerve. The peripheral inputs are conveyed to the cNST (yin and yang symbols) localized in the brainstem and processed in the central autonomic network (arrow) before traveling back to the peripheral organs via the vagal efferent fibers. b Regulation of the inflammatory responses by the body–brain axis. Anti- or pro-inflammatory stimuli are conveyed to the cNST via TRPA1⁺ or CALCA1⁺ neurons, respectively. The integration of the signals results in an anti-inflammatory output. This figure was created with BioRender.com.