# The Brain Gut Disconnect



## eric (Jul 8, 1999)

FYI http://abbc3.hsc.usc.edu/cme/ibs/contents/braingut.html "Dr. Mayer has a longstanding interest in clinical and neurobiology aspects of brain-gut interactions in health and disease. He has published more than 110 original articles, numerous review articles and chapters, co-edited two books and organized several interdisciplinary symposia in this area. Dr. Mayer has made seminal contributions to the characterization of physiologic alterations in patients with functional disorders, in particular in the area of visceral pain, stress-induced visceral hyperalgesia and altered brain responses. He has two active R01 grants, one on basic mechanisms of NMDA receptors in visceral nociception, the other on brain and perceptual responses to visceral stimulation. He is P.I. on a subcontract of another RO1 grant on the role of proteinase-activated receptors in neuronal activation, and co-investigator on a RO1 grant (P.I. Lin Chang) dealing with neuroendocrine alteration in IBS and fibromyalgia. Dr. Mayer has served on the editorial boards of the leading journals in digestive diseases, including Gastroenterology, Gut, Digestion and the American Journal of Physiology. He has served as reviewer for a wide range of medical and neuroscience journals and as ad hoc reviewer for national and international funding agencies. He has also served on ad hoc NIH study sections.Dr. Mayer has been involved in an administrative and leadership function in several large interdisciplinary programs at UCLA. He is the Director of the UCLA Center for Neurovisceral Sciences & Women's Health (CNS), a translational research program recently funded by the NIH that is currently viewed as the leading integrated research program in the world in the area of functional digestive disorders. Senior investigators within the CNS perform a wide range of basic and clinical research activities in the area of neurovisceral interactions in health and disease. Research efforts of this program include the study of cellular and molecular mechanisms of chemo- and mechanotransduction of primary afferent nerves; animal studies on stress modulation of visceral pain and associated autonomic responses; human physiology studies on cerebral, autonomic, neuroendocrine, and perceptual responses to visceral stimulation; and health outcomes, quality of life, and epidemiological studies in populations suffering from chronic gastrointestinal disorders. The Center includes more than 15 M.D. and Ph.D. researchers who are supported by individual RO1 grants. Dr. Mayer is the Chair of the recently established UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine, a multidisciplinary and interdepartmental clinical and research program related to different aspects of integrative medicine. Dr. Mayer has trained close to 20 postdoctoral fellows and has played an active role in promoting an integrative model of mind/brain/body interactions in his clinical practice, lectures and publications. Along these lines, he has organized two seminal interdisciplinary symposia on different aspects of mind/brain/body interactions and has published a volume of Progress in Brain Research on this topic." http://ibs.med.ucla.edu/Bios/MayerE.htm He also wroteInflammatory Bowel Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Separate or Unified?from Current Opinion in GastroenterologyPosted 07/15/2003Sylvie Bradesi, PhD, James A. McRoberts, Ph.D, Peter A. Anton, MD, Emeran A. Mayer, MDAbstract and IntroductionAbstractBoth irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases share symptoms of altered bowel habits associated with abdominal pain or discomfort. Irritable bowel syndrome has been referred to as a functional bowel disorder, which is diagnosed by a characteristic cluster of symptoms in the absence of detectable structural abnormalities. Inflammatory bowel disease is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by various forms of chronic mucosal and/or transmural inflammation of the intestine. In this review, the authors discuss recent evidence suggesting several potential mechanisms that might play a pathophysiologic role in both syndromes. Possible shared pathophysiologic mechanisms include altered mucosal permeability, an altered interaction of luminal flora with the mucosal immune system, persistent mucosal immune activation, alterations in gut motility, and a role of severe, sustained life stressors in symptom modulation. It is proposed that similarities and differences between the two syndromes can best be addressed within the framework of interactions between the central nervous system and the gut immune system. Based on recent reports of low-grade mucosal inflammation in subpopulations of patients meeting current diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel syndrome, therapeutic approaches shown to be effective in inflammatory bowel disease, such as probiotics, antibiotics, and antiinflammatory agents, have been suggested as possible therapies for certain patients with irritable bowel syndrome.Complete article here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/457728_1 Curr Opin Gastroenterol 9(4):336-342, 2003. ï¿½ 2003 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins


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