Date of Award

8-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Clore, Amy

Second Advisor

Corradi, Jeremias

Area of Concentration

Liberal Arts

Abstract

Since the early days of medicine, the “gut” had been associated as a seat of emotions and intuition, but as modern science marched forward, the brain itself was given complete dominion over mental health. But thanks to research into the enteric nervous system (ENS), which innervates the digestive tract and bilaterally communicates with the brain as a secondary function, we now know that, in a sense, the gut does indeed have a substantial impact on mental health outside of its primary functions. This profound discovery could potentially cause a massive rewrite for decades of modern neuroscience-based medicine. Overall, the study of the gut brain axis deeply interesting because it combines my love of neuroscience with my love of anthropology. It is deeply intriguing that these two concepts have continually existed as their own separate immutable fields, yet in research for this thesis, it seems these two worlds rarely intermingled outside of minor references

and wordplay. While the concept of “trusting your gut” or other references to the stomach and the greater digestive system being a second brain of sorts have always persisted within the human cultural consciousness, the study of how the central nervous system (CNS) and the enteric nervous system (ENS) are connected is an extremely recent phenomenon. The ENS is of course not the only secondary nervous system within the human body; however, it is the largest and most elaborate of the systems, rivaling even the computational might of the brain. This thesis discusses the ENS’ structure and functional relationships with not only the brain, but other sub-nervous systems (such as, the heart’s intrinsic cardiac nervous system-ICNS), and the gut microbiota as well. It also explores human society’s subconscious understanding and recognition of the ENS within popular culture. My hope for this thesis is to “reimagine” the popular zeitgeist’s current (and outdated) perceptions of the mind and the nervous system using both current scientific research of the present and traditions of the past to pave the way for a better educated future where medicine can be targeted with the ENS and other sub-nervous systems in mind.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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