Sage-Tips

What is the science behind a gut feeling?

A gut feeling can often push people to make decisions they might typically have avoided. But research from Flinders University found gut feelings are actually the product of the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), an intricate network of neurons and neurotransmitters found in and around the gut.

Can intuition be explained?

Intuition, or tacit knowledge, is difficult to measure, so it is often denigrated. A new dissertation in education research shows that there is a neurobiological explanation for how experience-based knowledge is created.

Do we think with your gut?

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. Scientists call this little brain the enteric nervous system (ENS).

Is having a gut feeling real?

Though gut feelings often seem to come out of nowhere, they aren’t random. They don’t actually originate in your gut, either. The gut-brain connection makes it possible for emotional experiences to register as gastrointestinal distress.

Do scientists believe in intuition?

Intuition — the idea that individuals can make successful decisions without deliberate analytical thought — has intrigued philosophers and scientists since at least the times of the ancient Greeks. But scientists have had trouble finding quantifiable evidence that intuition actually exists.

Is there a second brain in your gut?

Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain consists of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus.

Is there a second brain in your stomach?

We really do have a second brain that influences our judgment, and much else besides. Known as the Enteric Nervous System (ENS) – enteric meaning ‘to do with intestines’ – it’s an extensive network of brain-like neurons and neurotransmitters wrapped in and around our gut.