If you’ve ever “gone with your gut” when making a choice or had “butterflies in your stomach” when you were nervous, your second brain is probably telling you something you didn’t expect. For the first time, doctors can see how the “brain in your gut” affects your mood, health, and even the way you think. It’s hidden in the walls of your digestive system.
A woman with an orange juice
This little brain is known as the enteric nerve system (ENS) by scientists. It’s also not a small thing. The ENS is made up of two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells that line your digestive tract from the esophagus to the rectum.
What Does the Brain in Your Gut Do?
The ENS can’t write a love letter or balance your budget like the big brain in your head can. Assisting with swallowing, releasing enzymes that break down food, and directing blood flow that helps the body absorb nutrients and get rid of waste are all things that it does. The enteric nerve system doesn’t seem to be able to think in the way we think of it, but it does talk to our big brain and has very important effects.
People who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or functional bowel problems like constipation, diarrhea, bloating, pain, or gut upset may go through big changes in their emotions when they get the ENS. Researchers and doctors thought for a long time that anxiety and sadness made these problems worse. But our research and other research shows that it could also go the other way. Scientists are finding signs that gut pain may send messages to the brain and the central nervous system (CNS) that cause changes in mood.
These new results might help explain why more than usual numbers of people with IBS and functional bowel problems also experience anxiety and depression. That’s important information because between 30% and 40% of people have trouble with their bowels at some point.
The new gut understanding is equal to New chances to get treatment
Understanding the link between the ENS and the CNS helps explain why mind-body methods like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and medical hypnotherapy work so well for treating IBS and other bowel disorders. They say that our two brains “talk” to each other, which means that treatments that work for one may also work for the other. Gastroenterologists are doctors who specialize in digestive problems. In a way, they are like psychologists who try to calm the second brain.
For example, if a person has IBS, their gastroenterologist may recommend certain antidepressants. This isn’t because they think the problem is all in their head, but because these drugs can help ease symptoms by working on nerve cells in the gut. You might also be able to “improve communications” between your big brain and the brain in your gut with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
still more to learn about the mind-gut link.
According to research, the action of the digestive system may also have an effect on cognition, which includes memory and thinking skills. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and other places are looking into what these results mean.
Finding out how signals from the digestive system change metabolism and raise or lower the risk of diseases like type 2 diabetes is another area of study. Nerve messages, hormones in the gut, and microbiota (the bacteria that live in the digestive system) all play a role in this.