Guy asks for advice because he thinks his pregnant girlfriend cheated on him and the baby isn't his. Gets told he's being a paranoid asshole. This is the update.

A guy asked me what I alleged was true, and YES it is! As to comparing it with the brain of a 6yo, is a moot point, the FACTS REMAIN that our enteric nervous sytems DO HAVE a profound effect upon us and our behavior.

(reminder that I'm not arguing with the point of the gut feeling, just trying to avoid misinformation, even if it goes in the right direction)

And which 'misinformation is that exactly, you fail to clarify it ...

It's not, it's FACT!

So why don't YOU DO BETTER instead of bitching about "sensationalism"

Says you

The more commonly accepted theory is that the brain when put under stress (conscious or not) will activate the sympathetic system (also known as fight or flight response) because under stress conditions the blood flow and energy consumption need to be directed to muscles instead, effectively it will slow down gut transit and this can be felt.

It's nothing new, those were a few 'easy to read' links,

Try these if you're so offended by their 'vulgarity'

The gut contains 100 million neurons - more than the spinal cord.

• Major neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norephinephrine and nitric oxide are in the gut. Also two dozen small brain proteins, called neuropeptides are there along with the major cells of the immune system. Enkephalins (a member of the endorphins family) are also in the gut**.

The gut also is a rich source of benzodiazepines - the family of psychoactive chemicals that includes such ever popular drugs as valium and xanax.

In evolutionary terms, it makes sense that the body has two brains, said Dr. David Wingate, a professor of gastrointestinal science at the University of London and a consultant at Royal London Hospital. "The first nervous systems were in tubular animals that stuck to rocks and waited for food to pass by," according to Dr. Wingate.

The limbic system is often referred to as the "reptile brain." "As life evolved, animals needed a more complex brain for finding food and sex and so developed a central nervous system.

But the gut's nervous system was too important to put inside the newborn head with long connections going down to the body," says Wingate. Offspring need to eat and digest food at birth. Therefore, nature seems to have preserved the enteric nervous system **as an independent circuit inside higher animals.

• It is only loosely connected to the central nervous system and can mostly function alone, without instructions from topside.

This is indeed the picture seen by developmental biologists. A clump of tissue called the neural crest forms early in embryo genesis. One section turns into the central nervous system. Another piece migrates to become the enteric nervous system. According to Dr. Gershon, it is only later that the two systems are connected via a cable called the vagus nerve.

The brain sends signals to the gut by talking to a small number of "command neurons," which in turn send signals to gut interneurons that carry messages up and down the pike.

It's a two way street!

Both command neurons and interneurons are spread throughout two layers of gut tissue called the "myenteric plexus and the submuscosal plexus."

Command neurons control the pattern of activity in the gut. The vagus nerve only alters the volume by changing its rates of firing.

The plexuses also contain glial cells that nourish neurons, mast cells involved in immune responses, and a "blood brain barrier" that keeps harmful substances away from important neurons.

They have sensors for sugar, protein, acidity and other chemical factors that might monitor the progress of digestions, determining how the gut mixes and propels its contents.

As light is shed on the circuitry between the two brains, researchers are beginning to understand why people act and feel the way they do. When the central brain encounters a frightening situation, it releases stress hormones that prepare the body to fight or flee.

The stomach contains many sensory nerves that are stimulated by this chemical surge - hence the "butterflies."

On the battlefield, the higher brain tells the gut brain to shut down. A frightened running animal does not stop to defecate, according to Dr. Gershon.

(which IS the a part of the "Fight or Flight reaction" that you're referring to, BUT I'm not)

Fear also causes the vagus nerve to "turn up the volume" on serotonin circuits in the gut. Thus over stimulated, the gut goes into higher gear and diarrhea results.(aka shitting yourself)

Similarly, people sometimes "choke" with emotion. When nerves in the esophagus are highly stimulated, people have trouble swallowing.

http://www.psyking.net/id36.htm

It's EASY to condemn, It's HARD to DO BETTER ... as you have shown

reminder that I'm not arguing with the point of the gut feeling, just trying to avoid misinformation,

Yeah? SO remind me what 'misinformation' I have included that you are referring to again?