The Visceral Clipping Hypothesis
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Here, we propose the Visceral Clipping Hypothesis ("Vapeur d'Esprit"), a bottom-up structural model positing that the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) functions as a primary, continuous generator of cumulative somatic tension (T_v). During wakefulness and non-REM states, this visceral tension accumulates. During REM sleep, under the rigid physical constraint of brainstem-mediated spinal motor atonia, the central nervous system (CNS) acts as an écrêteur (clipping circuit). Prived of somatic motor dissipation routes, the neocortex is forced to convert this ascending autonomic charge into high-density phasic visual and narrative simulations. We formalize the Visceral Tension Index (T_v) as a normalized 4-hour pre-sleep integral of electrogastrogram (EGG) spectral density and heart rate variability (HRV) sympathovagal ratios. Furthermore, we outline a novel, binary falsification protocol using peripheral administration of Granisetron (a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist with >97% P-glycoprotein active efflux isolation from the blood-brain barrier) to selectively decouple ENS-vagal signaling to the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS).
Author: Li10i
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204921614
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