The gut-brain axis: historical reflections

Area of Science:

• Medical History
• Neurogastroenterology
• Psychology

Background:

• The gut-brain axis, linking gut and emotions, is a recent focus, often presented as novel.
• Historically, physicians and patients recognized gut-mind connections using models of nerves or psychology.
• Nineteenth-century Britain provides a case study for understanding historical gut-brain concepts due to prevalent gastric issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine historical medical and public understanding of the gut-brain axis from the 19th to 21st centuries.
• To demonstrate how early medical developments impacted the perception of the gut-mind connection.
• To trace the evolution of the gut-brain axis concept through changing scientific and medical paradigms.

Main Methods:

• Historical analysis of medical and public thought in 19th and 20th century Britain.
• Review of medical sub-disciplines (anatomy, physiology, surgery) and their impact on understanding the gut-mind connection.
• Examination of 20th-century psychological and medical thought, and late 20th-century pharmacological influences.

Main Results:

• Nineteenth-century understanding readily accepted the gut-mind relationship, influencing health and social discourse.
• Emerging medical sub-disciplines shifted focus to the stomach's physiology, diminishing the holistic gut-mind concept.
• Holistic body-mind concepts persisted in 20th-century thought, despite pharmacological trends that minimized the gut-brain axis.

Conclusions:

• The gut-brain axis has a long history of recognition, predating modern microbiome research.
• Scientific reductionism temporarily overshadowed holistic gut-mind perspectives, which later re-emerged.
• The gut-brain axis concept has resurged in the 21st century, reframed by microbiome science.