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| | --- Reply above this line to comment on this post --- Gut instincts have long fascinated us, as we ponder how we might be thinking with something other than our conscious mind, but the concept of having a second brain, one that quite possibly predates the one with which we’re most familiar, evolutionarily-speaking, is a simply mind-blowing concept, yet one that some scientists are delving into quite deeply. Yes, that's right, your other brain. Your body contains a separate nervous system that is so complex it has been dubbed the second brain. It comprises an estimated 500 million neurons - about five times as many as in the brain of a rat - and is around 9 metres long, stretching from your oesophagus to your anus. It is this brain that could be responsible for your craving under stress for crisps, chocolate and cookies. Embedded in the wall of the gut, the enteric nervous system (ENS) has long been known to control digestion. Now it seems it also plays an important role in our physical and mental well-being. It can work both independently of and in conjunction with the brain in your head and, although you are not conscious of your gut "thinking", the ENS helps you sense environmental threats, and then influences your response. "A lot of the information that the gut sends to the brain affects well-being, and doesn't even come to consciousness," says Michael Gershon at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, New York. While some people might be thinking “A ha! The perfect excuse as to why I can’t get cookies off my mind,” Emma Young’s article in New Scientist will give you food for thought to chew on for days while that cookie is, well, already gone. Full story at New Scientist. Delectable food for thought. Photo credit: Fotolia | | | |
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