Neurons in Your Gut

Gut neurons look like those in the brain in your head, eat the same neurotrophic food, and use many of the same neurotransmitters. For example, estimates are that 90 percent of all the serotonin in your entire body lives in your gut or Gastrointestinal System (GI System). The serotonin helps trigger digestion. Neurons also utilize serotonin to send signals up to the brain 'in your head from your 'second brain', information that can impact your desire to eat or not to eat. Serotonin also acts as a go-between, keeping brain neurons up to date with what is happening in gut neurons. Conditions such as anxiety and depressive disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach/duodenal ulcers, and Parkinson's disease are said to have symptoms both at brain-neuron and gut-neuron levels.