Second Brain in Your Gut - Gut Brain Connection - Microbiota and Health - Enteric Nervous System

This video discusses our second brain which is found in our guts. The video explains the gut brain connection and the role of gut brain and microbiota (microbiome) in our mental and physical health. The second brain present in our guts (intestine) contains a network of neurons and glial cells known as the Enteric Nervous System (ENS). The video also explains how we can improve our health by improving our gut health by eating foods that promote the diversity of gut microbiota (gut microbiome). Gut and brain are connected through Gut Brain Axis (GBA).
According to a researchers at Michigan State University, we have a second brain in our body and it is present in our guts. There is a very intelligent brain present in your guts that has storage of large amounts of information in it.
Our subconscious mind stores all the information and one copy of this massive information is sent to the gut brain.
Therefore your gut brain knows your environment and surroundings very well and by processing this extremely large amounts of information, it gives you gut feelings. On the basis of your gut feelings, you can even predict the future or can take right decisions in unknown and uncertain situations.
This second brain, located in our intestines can even perform its functions independently and can take its own decisions without the help of our main brain.

Do you know, many important things like- how you feel, your emotions and mood, your immunity, digestion, various hormones and even the way you think is decided by your gut brain.
You will find it interesting that the medicines taken for mental diseases like depression, anxiety etc. actually mainly work on your guts and large colonies of microorganisms found there.

Do you know, that 90 percent of the body's serotonin hormone and nearly 50 percent of the dopamine hormone is also released by the gastrointestinal tract?

It has been estimated that about 100 trillion bacteria live inside your digestive system. They are collectively, known as the gut microbiota. If you measure the weight of all the bacteria present in our gut, it would be around 4 pounds.
Do you know, If we consider all the microbiota present in our body, then it would be 10 times more than the total number of human cells present in our body.

Friends, our brain contains approximately 100 billion neurons. But do you know, there are 500 million neurons in our gut. These Neurons are connected to the brain through nerves. The vagus nerve is is the biggest nerve that connects our gut and brain.

There is a web of neurons in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, known as the "Enteric Nervous System". Surprisingly enteric nervous system contains more number of neurons than the whole of the spinal cord.

In the same way, troubled intestines send signals to the brain. You might have observed, just by thinking about your favourite dish, your stomach releases digestive juices.

There is a bidirectional link between the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system, known as the Gut Brain Axis (GBA).
This Cross communication between the gut and brain has opened new doors of possibilities to cure many diseases.

After seeing the close relationship between the brain and guts, medical researchers who are studying constipation, ulcers and other gastrointestinal diseases are looking into the brain functioning and in same way, researchers who are investigating mental diseases and disorders like autism, depression, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, anxiety, pain etc. are investigating what's wrong with the patient's guts.

The enteric nervous system comes under the peripheral nervous system. Our gut contains mainly two types of nervous system cells- neurons and glia. There is a large network of neurons and glial cells along the walls of our digestive tract.

According to Brian D. Gulbransen " Thinking of this second brain as a computer, the glia are the chips working in the periphery. They're an active part of the signaling network, but not like neurons. The glia are modulating or modifying the signal."

There are large number of functions that are performed by the secondary brain or the enteric nervous system.
It includes, pushing the food along the digestive tract by triggering muscle contraction and relaxation in harmony.
It also plays important role in controlling local blood flow, functioning of the immune system and mucous secretions etc.
For maximum absorption of nutrients present in the food, it is necessary that the contents of the intestine are well mixed. This job is taken care of by the gut brain.
It's function is also to decide what to absorb and what to reject. The second brain knows it very well, what nutrients are beneficial and what substances and microbes are harmful for the body.
These microbiota found in our intestines are responsible for many nutritional, immunological, metabolic and physiological processes in the human body.