The Second Brain: A Groundbreaking New Understanding of Nervous Disorders of the Stomach and Intestine

Well written for medical professionals. I don't agree with it being much use to anyone without a background in biological sciences. It was a perfect read for my use as a Functional Medicine Practitioner.

Honestly, I have not been able to complete this book because I bought it for my Dad to read. The little I was able to read before I gave it away was very informative. Dr. Gershon writes clearly and concise. You don't have to be a doctor to understand his book. He starts out by explaining the inner workings of the intestines and then proceeds on with how it really does have a mind of its own. I highly recommend this book if you or someone you know has or has had an intestinal disorder. Even if that's not the case, I think this book holds a lot of important information for someone who is healthy.

I purchased this book because I was looking for a better understanding of the functioning of the gastrointestinal system with regards to neuropathology. Specifically, I was hoping to find a better understanding of what I have started hearing in the scientific community regarding the possibilities of mental illness being affected, if not in some instances caused by enteric nervous system malfunctions.I have given this book 4 stars because it is very detailed and well written regarding the biological explanations - both general structural, neurological, and biochemically regarding the functioning of the gut. And although too dense in biological terminology and substance to be a New York Times best seller contender, it is good for what it is. If you want to learn all the chemical names for the enzymes and neurotransmitters in the gut, this is where you'll find that alphabet soup. I will give the author kudos for injecting a certain amount of intellectual humor from time to time as well.It did not, unfortunately, give any insights into the questions for which it was purchased. I think the author's own words on page 310 explains it best. "I did not intend this book to be a "how to" document, explaining to readers how to cope with a variety of gastrointestinal complaints.... I would like the readers of this book to realize that the rediscovery of the brain in their bowel is a breakthrough for hope. The focus of scientific attention on the second brain holds within it is a great potential, some of it already realized, for understanding how to treat and prevent gastrointestinal disease. The realization that an independent center of integrative nervous activity lurks inside the abdomen has become a magnet for attracting good research."

If you struggle with any kind of guy issue this is your book!! The Brain-Gut Connection is explained more in this book and it helped me understand what and how to deal with my IBS-C better. It was hard for me to understand why I was having flare-ups until I read this book. My doctors never really explained it to me in depth like this.Must read!! Any type of gut stomach issue

I started reading this book after The Colbert Report plugged it (IIRC) as kind of a joke about "thinking with your gut". I was curios to learn about this other nervous system that you don't really hear much about; how it's independent of the central nervous system (in ways), and how similar chemicals and processes operate on both.So here's the good part: the first few chapters are a very educational review of how our guts work. This part I found very illuminating and interesting, and it's too bad it ended so quickly.Now, the bad. Once Gershon starts talking about his own research and advances in his field in general it just becomes incredibly tedious. I also found it distracting when the author repeatedly makes comments against "cruel" experiments in animals (not _his_ experiments of course, which are, supposedly, a real treat to the subjects).So the first few chapters give you information at 90mph, and then rest is a slow 2mph trek through recent research in excruciating detail.The biggest disappointment, however, is the fact that the book just doesn't deliver on its title. A "groundbreaking new understanding of nervous disorders of the stomach" made me expect cool revelations about how the gut can actually suffer nervous disorders similar to those in the brain - i.e. "depressed gut syndrome", or "stomach madness". None of that. What a gip! So big whoop, Serotonin also plays a big part in the gut. That's essential 70% of the book right there.Read it if you're looking for an introduction to the bowls (though I'm guessing there are better introductions out there). That part of the book I thoroughly enjoyed. Just know it gets boring very quickly and doesn't improve until the end.

If you are planning to be a student of medicine or neuro-psychology, then you seriously might start with this book. Gershon shares his 30 years of research of the gut and its enteric nervous system in a detailed narative account, which is technical but very readable to the interested student. Until his research in this book revealed that the gut has nerve cells that act as a second brain, the gut went far too long unrecognized as capable of being an independent functioning organism, and its importance in both medical health as well as psychological health had taken a back seat to the head brain.I have used his remarkable work as a primary reference in my own book to further validate psychological findings in my own clinical studies on the intelligence of the gut instincts and a new gut psychology. Without his work, my thesis would have lacked the neurologicaI and biological validation it needed to come forth as a viable new theory in modern psychological thought. I highly recommend Dr. Michael Gershon's groundbreaking book.Martha Loveauthor of What's Behind Your Belly Button?: A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct

Where to begin? The Author of this book is an exceptional person, a neurobiologist who, as he wrote, his route to the gut was a "tortuous one". Any human being who has suffered with gut/stomach problems all their lives can attest to the word "tortuous". I haven't read all of this book yet, it's very detailed and takes both time and concentration. However, the content is a true learning curve concerning the "new world" of the gut! As well, it lends insight into just how well the gut can work if we get on board because the gut knows what it's doing. A complicated process? True...and humans do well to pay attention. If you have a gut, stomach, intestinal problem grab this book, study it, learn why. Yes, it's detailed reading, will take time, but I'd say, as I continue on reading, well worth the effort in discovering "the second brain".

Suggested to me by my psychiatrist for understanding my gut. This book deals in depth with the second brain. Do try it though.

Es un libro que es ciencia, no sólo "leaky gutismo", que ahora está tan de moda. En efecto, explica por qué y cómo están interrelacionados el cerebro y el intestino, cómo el autor, neurobiólogo realiza diversos estudios científicos para probar sus tesis, es ameno pero se habla en este libro con rigor científico, para mí es una joya.El cerebro y el intestino están íntimamente vinculados y del buen funcionamiento de uno depende del otro, por lo que trastornos como el síndrome de intestino irritable, gastroenteritis y otros, encuentran ahora un nuevo marco de explicación que resulta fascinante.

Non l'ho ancora letto tutto, ma lo consiglio vivamente.

Michael Gershon erklärt und erzählt in diesem Buch die Geschichte der Entdeckung des Bauchgehirns, nicht als psychologische Metapher sondern als eigenständige neuronale Einheit. Er bringt es fertig, die Fortschritte die er und andere Forscher auf diesem Gebiet gemacht haben ebenso akkurat und detailliert wie verständlich und interessant darzustellen. Eine hohe Kunst!Das Englisch ist - wenn man mal die medizinischen Fachbegriffe bei Leo.org nachgeschaut hat - auch für Fremdsprachige gut verständlich, und der süffige Duktus der Erklärungen macht es leicht, dem Text zu folgen.Gelegentlich sind echte Trouvaillen in dem Text enthalten, die weit über den direkten Leserkreis des Buches interessant sind. Ein Beispiel: Im Zusammenhang mit der bewussten Kontrolle des Stuhlgangs erklärt Gershon die Entwicklung der entsprechenden neuronalen Verdrahtung und legt dar, dass ein Kind frühestens im Alter von einem Jahr eine bewusst-absichtliche Kontrolle ausüben kann. Zu den stolzen Eltern, welche ihr Superkind schon viel früher ans Töpfchen zum a-a-machen gewöhnt haben schreibt er: "The child who is trained before age one has really trained his/her parent. The parent has learned the frequency at which stool is delivered to the child's rectum and thus ... can position the child appropriately over a toilet at the key moments of the day. But it is the adult and not the child who is exhibiting 'toilet training'."Für jeden, der wissen will, wie seine Verdauung funktioniert (und wenn sie nicht funktioniert - warum nicht) ist mit diesem Buch sehr gut bedient. Meine Empfehlung!