Gut-Brain Axis

Your brain is a huge part of your everyday life, from processing information to telling your body what to do. The brain is part of the Central Nervous System (CNS) that carries information from your brain to the rest of your body. However, we humans have a “second brain.” This is called our Enteric Nervous System (ENS), which is a layer of 100 million nerve cells that line your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The GI tract is the pathway for eating food. It goes from your mouth to your esophagus, then your stomach, your small intestine and large intestine (colon), and is finally excreted when you use the bathroom. The ENS lines this entire system with lots of nerves! And even cooler, the ENS is connected to the CNS, our brain, through the Vagus nerve. The Vagus nerve is a huge connector nerve. Think of it like the brain is your house, the ENS is your school, and the Vagus nerve is the route your bus takes to drive in between. And like any road, vehicles (nerve signals) can travel in either direction. This is the case for our gut and brain, too. When we are feeling sad, anxious, or upset, nerves travel to our gut like cars. This can make our gut feel upset too. Getting butterflies in your stomach when you’re nervous or having stomach pain when you’re upset are great examples of this. This connection goes the other way, too. When our gut isn’t feeling great--when our IBD is active--signals can be sent up to the brain. This can make us feel sad or upset just because our gut isn’t doing well.

This is why it is so important to talk about mental health when it comes to IBD! The activity of our disease has a scientific influence on how we feel emotionally. Likewise, when we have poor mental health, that can actually make our IBD worse. Improving your mental health (taking time for yourself, doing things you enjoy, talking to a therapist, spending time with friends, etc.) can make your IBD better.

In Collaboration with Eva Szigethy, MD, PhD, University of Pittsburgh