The Friedman Brain Institute Spring 2025

However, the specific brain circuitry involved in directing output of the autonomic nervous system and its guiding influence over every peripheral organ have remained poorly understood. Even less appreciated has been the ability of sensory neurons that innervate all organs to signal back to the brain to control both the brain’s impact on those organs and also other brain functions, including cognition and emotion.

We are now in the early phases of a revolution in deciphering this bidirectional communication between the brain and body. Mount Sinai has been at the forefront of these efforts with its creation of the Brain and Body Research Center in 2021 and the recent elevation of the Center as a freestanding Brain and Body Research Institute at Mount Sinai under the direction of Scott J. Russo, PhD.

This newsletter focuses on one dimension of brain-body interactions: the tight connection between metabolism and emotional well-being. One topic addresses the astonishing efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists to treat not only diabetes and obesity but also their potential to be beneficial for neurological and psychiatric conditions that include substance use disorders. Other topics discuss how diabetes and glucose control affect depression and anxiety, and we explain how chemical messengers present in the peripheral nervous system can be mined as novel treatments for these disorders.

We see tremendous potential in delineating the precise mechanistic connections between the brain and peripheral organs, and using those discoveries to treat not only brain disorders but to leverage the brain to improve treatments for a range of other conditions encompassing metabolism, the immune system, and cardiovascular health.