The gut, its microbiome, and the brain: connections and communications

Modern research on gastrointestinal behavior has revealed it to be a highly complex bidirectional process in which the gut sends signals to the brain, via spinal and vagal visceral afferent pathways, and receives sympathetic and parasympathetic inputs. Concomitantly, the enteric nervous system within the bowel, which contains intrinsic primary afferent neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons, also senses the enteric environment and controls the...