The
Second Brain by Michael Gershon, M.D.
(Harper Collins, 1998)
Serotonin,
it turns out, is important for more than mood.
It also plays a critical role in digestion since without it there would
be no intestinal peristalsis, or movement.
In fact, over three quarters of our serotonin is said to be in our
intestines. How did we find this
out? Medical researchers like Michael
Gershon (Chairman for many years of the Department of Anatomy and Cell biology
at Columbia’s College of Physicians
and surgeons) pursued this neurotransmitter in the guts of lab animals,
especially the guinea pig because that hapless animal so closely resembles us
in ways that interest scientists. The Second Brain is Dr. Gershon’s
description of his odyssey, so to speak, through the rodent gut.
To read more, click on the pdf below.
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