# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DTkoyHzkrKg
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/47999247-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2dbd859ec9.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-01-16T13:00:25.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

If you’ve ever “gone with your gut” to make a decision or felt “butterflies in your stomach” when nervous, you’re likely getting signals from an unexpected source: your second brain. Hidden in the walls of the digestive system, this “brain in your gut” is revolutionizing medicine’s understanding of the links between digestion, mood, health, and even the way you think.⁠
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Scientists call this little brain the enteric nervous system (ENS). And it’s not so little. The ENS is two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract from the esophagus to the rectum.⁠
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Unlike the big brain in your skull, the ENS can’t balance your checkbook or compose a love note. Its main role is controlling digestion, from swallowing to the release of enzymes that break down food, to the control of blood flow that helps with nutrient absorption, to elimination. The enteric nervous system doesn’t seem capable of thought as we know it, but it communicates back and forth with our big brain—with profound results.⁠
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The ENS may trigger big emotional shifts experienced by people coping with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional bowel problems such as constipation, diarrhea, bloating, pain, and stomach upset. For decades, researchers and doctors thought that anxiety and depression contributed to these problems. But our studies and others show that it may also be the other way around. Researchers are finding evidence that irritation in the gastrointestinal system may send signals to the central nervous system (CNS) that trigger mood changes.⁠
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These new findings may explain why a higher-than-normal percentage of people with IBS and functional bowel problems develop depression and anxiety. That’s important data, because up to 30% to 40% of the population has functional bowel problems at some point.⁠
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#entericnervoussystem #nervoussystem #secondnervoussystem #brain #secondbrain #gut #science

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## Tags

science, secondbrain, brain, gut, entericnervoussystem, secondnervoussystem, nervoussystem

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