Why the Brain Keeps Track of Those Painful Food Poisoning Memories

Learn what part of the brain keeps track of food poisoning and why.

By Paul Smaglik
Apr 2, 2025 9:00 PMApr 2, 2025 9:08 PM
Neurons in the brain
Neurons in the brain. (Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock)

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When it comes to food poisoning, the body — well, more specifically, the brain — keeps score. Almost everyone can relate to eating something that caused them, to put it delicately, to suffer severe gastrointestinal distress that then renders them incapable of ever consuming that particular food again.

Now, neuroscientists have pinpointed the exact spot (albeit in a mouse’s brain) where such traumatic memories appear to be recorded and stored, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

Food Poisoning and Why it Matters

The work is relevant to humans because food poisoning is a near-universal experience.

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