If you ever thought your digestive system’s only role was to break down food, think again.
According to microbiome researcher Christopher Lowry, “what happens in the gut affects other parts of the body, including the brain.” And much of this activity is related to trillions of good and bad bacteria — collectively called our “microbiome” — that inhabit our gastrointestinal tract.
Lowry, who is currently conducting research at the Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder on the relationship between stress-related disorders and the bacteria that live in our guts, was a featured speaker at a daylong workshop hosted by the Institute for Brain Potential in Cheyenne, Wyoming, titled “Understanding the Gut Brain.”
