The Pit In Your Stomach is Actually Your Second Brain

The world is so much bigger and more interesting than we can see with our naked eyes. If we could, we could watch cells grow, morph, and split again over and over again on the backs of our own wrists--or the billions of foreign cells living in and among our own, forming what scientists are beginning to call our "second brain." As researchers turn their microscopes to these hidden environments, they have discovered something remarkable: There's an entire ecosystem of bacteria and a vast neural network operating in our guts. This ecosystem is our second brain, and comprises some 100 million neurons, more than the spinal cord. This is not a thinking brain--it does not reason, write poetry, or solve multi-linear regressions--but mounting evidence suggests that your gut's health strongly influences your mood. It's not just that a stomach ache can sour your day. It's more than that. The enteric nervous system is a mesh-like network of neurons that lines the entire digestive track. It causes the sensation of nervous butterflies or a pit in your stomach that are innate parts of our psychological stress responses. Up to 90 percent of the cells involved in these responses carry information to the brain rather than receiving messages from it, making your gut as influential to your mood as your head is. Maybe even more. Even crazier is that our second brain is actually only half of us. Inside the digestive system, the enteric nervous system mainly communicates with bacteria. These are...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news