Functional gastrointestinal disorders and gut-brain axis: What does the future hold?

Figure 1 The biopsychosocial model for functional gastrointestinal disorder. The figure illustrates the interaction of psychosocial factors, environmental factors and disturbances in gut-brain axis with functional GI disorders. Early life stress events combined with psychosocial state of an individual determines the symptomatology and quality of life of individuals. Adopted from ROME IV[1].

Figure 2 Schematic representation of different factors modulating the gut-brain axis. The microbiota and central nervous system interact in a bidirectional relationship bridged by the gut-brain axis. This axis is also influenced by Immune system, enteric nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary axis, and vagus nerve. CNS: Central nervous system; ENS: Enteric nervous system; HPA: Hypothalamic-pituitary.

Figure 3 The pathways involved in emotional response. The thalamo-amygdala pathway is responsible for unconditioned fast response without the input from the cortex. The thalamo-cortico amygdala pathway provides input for a complex, conditioned response due to input from the cerebral cortex.