Our Mind- Body Connection
Aug
29
“The Brain- Gut Connection”
The way we look at the brain and brain research has completely flipped on its head since a few decades ago when scientists first discovered that “messenger molecules” for the brain were circulating throughout the body in the bloodstream. None are more pervasive and penetrating than what scientists have found in the activities of microbiomes of the gut.
“Every cell is eavesdropping on the brain’s activity, sending and receiving messages identical to those that the brain processes,” says Deepak Chopra and contributing author Naveen Jain in their Huffington Post article “Will the Gut-Brain Connection Revolutionize Wellness?” (September 11, 2017). In this article, Chopra goes so far as to say that all the common experiences we have are indicators of the brain’s connection to the gut — “getting butterflies in your stomach when you feel nervous, overeating when you feel anxious, feeling dull and sluggish after taking an antibiotic, contracting stomach cramps before a competitive challenge, experiencing nausea or stomach upset from taking antidepressants.” Every major organ in the body from the heart to the stomach and liver combine to possess hundreds of millions of neurons with corresponding DNA, which again collectively makes up the “enteric nervous system”.
The bacteria inside our guts, microbiomes, include unlimited numbers of species and strains. They differ from person to person with limited or no relationship from person to person.” The known “messenger molecules” associated with the brain that circulate throughout the body in the bloodstream even produce neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals our brain uses to communicate with the rest of the body. Every cell is eavesdropping on the brain’s activity, sending and receiving messages identical to those that the brain processes.
The brain – microbial body connections seem endless, as the engine of microbial research redefines the health care industry.
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