Editorial
Copyright ©2007 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 7, 2007; 13(25): 3405-3408
Published online Jul 7, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i25.3405
The psyche and the gut
Paul Enck, Ute Martens, Sibylle Klosterhalfen
Paul Enck, Ute Martens, Sibylle Klosterhalfen, University Hospitals Tübingen, Department of Internal Medicine VI, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Germany
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Professor Paul Enck, University Hospitals Tübingen, Department of Internal Medicine VI, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Osianderstr. 5, Tübingen72076, Germany. paul.enck@uni-tuebingen.de
Telephone: +49-7071-9387374 Fax: +49-7071-9387379
Received: September 1, 2006
Revised: September 3, 2006
Accepted: October 11, 2006
Published online: July 7, 2007
Abstract

Research on gut-brain interactions has increased over the last decade and has brought about a number of new topics beyond "classical" subjects, such as "stress" and "personality", which have dominated the psychosomatic literature on gastrointestinal disorders over the past century. These novel topics include brain imaging of intestinal functions, placebo responses in gastroenterology, learning of gastrointestinal symptoms, quality of life in patients with intestinal complaints, and psychotherapy and familial aggregation of functional intestinal disorders. Currently, these new topics appear with a frequency of 1% to 3% in leading gastroenterological journals, either as data presentation or review papers. Increasing focus underlines the importance of enhancing our understanding on how the psyche and the brain communicate in order to better meet the needs of our patients.

Keywords: Gut-brain interactions; Psyche; Functional bowel disorders; Irritable bowel syndrome