"Biologists have discovered that bacteria -- often viewed as lowly, solitary creatures -- are actually quite sophisticated in their social interactions and communicate with one another through similar electrical signaling mechanisms as neurons in the human brain."

http://www.sciencedaily....2015/10/151021135616.htm

Study:

Prindle, A., Liu, J., Asally, M., Ly, S., Garcia-Ojalvo, J. & Süel, G.M. (2015) Ion channels enable electrical communication in bacterial communities. Nature, In Press.

http://www.nature.com/na...nt/full/nature15709.html

I don't know why but I thought this had been the case (scientifically) for a long time. Sometimes I imagine that I'm in contact with the flora in my gut, and that gut instinct comes from this contact. Isn't there a superhighway like nerve running from the abdomen to the brain? Curious.

The gut definitely is pretty sophisticated in terms of its nervous system wiring and link with the brain. This may be of interest:

http://www.nature.com/ne...-neuroscientists-1.16316

Cool find!

Thanks B, that's what I remember reading

Michael Gershon's book The Second Brain goes deep into this topic. It's fascinating!