Researchers at the Crick are uncovering the complex connection between our gut and our brain.
Our gut has a life of its own. We’re encouraged to listen to it and sometimes it feels like it reacts to the world around us. But what is our gut’s nervous system and how important is it?
Here, we look at the role of the nervous system found in the walls of our intestines. It not only propels food down our gut, senses what we eat, talks to microbes, but is also in constant communication with our brain. Our gut’s nervous system can also can change throughout our lives, such as expanding during pregnancy.
Even when it’s taken out of our body, some parts of our gut keep working. A hundred years ago, scientists placed a piece of gut in a salt solution and the muscles of the organ continued to contract and relax as if it was pushing food along itself.
“Embedded within the wall of the gut, there is a very complex and ostensibly chaotic network of neurons,” says Vassilis Pachnis, one of the group leaders here at the Crick.
He, alongside other researchers, is discovering that our gut’s nervous system might play a more important role in our health and wellbeing than just simply moving food through our intestines. The gut’s nervous system not only talks to other cells in the gut, such as the lining of the gut and the immune cells that keep bacteria and toxins at bay, but also passes notes with other nearby organs, such as the liver and pancreas, brain and possibly even other parts of the body.
Embedded within the wall of the gut, there is a very complex and ostensibly chaotic network of neurons. – Vassilis Pachnis
Credit: The Crick Institute