Eli5. What causes that ‘gut feeling’ we get when something isn’t right?
In: Biology
The gut has a mind of its own, the “enteric nervous system”. Just like the larger brain in the head, researchers say, this system sends and receives impulses, records experiences and respond to emotions. Its nerve cells are bathed and influenced by the same neurotransmitters. The gut can upset the brain just as the brain can upset the gut.
As light is shed on the circuitry between the two brains, researchers are beginning to understand why people act and feel the way they do. When the central brain encounters a frightening situation, it releases stress hormones that prepare the body to fight or flee. The stomach contains many sensory nerves that are stimulated by this chemical surge – hence the “butterflies.”
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Based on feelings from previous experiences that comes back when something similar is about to happen. Its an instinctive defensive mechanism that we develop throughout the years and the corresponding feeling is like your stomach is turning upside down.
It’s our instinct our ancestors had it and we do too now. We can sense when something’s not right in our subconscious and then we get that gut feeling. For example if we’re walking down the street hearing background noise like wind and birds chirping and cars and slowly all those background noises that we weren’t even paying attention to but were there, stopped, our gut instincts would kick in and we’d realize something is off
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