🔎 Neurons in the Heart Neurons aren’t just in the brain—they’re in the heart, too! Researchers working with mice found the neurons in their hearts can induce rapid changes in their blood pressure. Scientists think these sensitive cells might help elevate your blood pressure when you stand to prevent you from fainting. How it works: A protein called PIEZO2 converts pressure on cell membranes into nerve signals, and neurons that express this protein are wrapped around both mouse and human heart chambers. The researchers rotated mice from horizontal to upright, like a person standing up from a chair, and monitored their vitals. In mice with deactivated PIEZO2 neurons, their blood pressure couldn’t rise to compensate for the posture change. When the researchers induced hemorrhaging in the mice, the PIEZO2 neurons acted long before other sensors in the arteries—suggesting that these proteins sense blood volume directly. What the experts say: These heart neurons remain mysterious, eve...