Serotonin function

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and hormone that plays a key role throughout your body. Serotonin levels affect functions including your moods, memory, sex drive, sleep patterns, gut function, bone health, and blood clotting. Serotonin, also called 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), forms in the lining of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract and within your brain. It carries messages between nerve cells in your body and governs many psychological and biological processes. This article will look at the role of serotonin in your body and brain. It will also discuss serotonin deficiency and how you can raise the levels of serotonin in your body. Serotonin’s role throughout the body • In the mind: Serotonin plays a role in many mental functions such as decision making and feelings of happiness. Serotonin’s role in mood regulation could mean that low serotonin levels affect • In the gut: Enterochromaffin cells (EC) release serotonin in the digestive tract. This helps maintain healthy gut function, and serotonin levels can affect symptoms such as • Immune cell function: Serotonin exists in almost all immune cells. It helps to regulate your immune response and plays a part in • Blood clotting: Blood platelets release serotonin to help heal wounds. • Bone growth: Serotonin plays a role in bone growth. • Heart function: Serotonin regulates different aspects of cardiac function, including electrical conduction and valve function. • Breathing: Serotonin helps control breathing by affecting the ...

If you’ve ever “gone with your gut” to make a decision or felt “butterflies in your stomach” when nervous, you’re likely getting signals from an unexpected source: your secondbrain. Hidden in the walls of the digestive system, this “brain in your gut” is revolutionizing medicine’s understanding of the links between digestion, mood, health and even the way you think. Scientists call this little brain the enteric nervous system(ENS). And it’s not so little. The ENS is two thin layers of more than 100 million nerve cells lining your gastrointestinal tract from esophagus to rectum. What Does Your Gut’s Brain Control? Unlike the big brain in your skull, the ENS can’t balance your checkbook or compose a love note. “Its main role is controlling digestion, from swallowing to the release of enzymes that break down food to the control of blood flow that helps with nutrient absorption to elimination,” explains The ENS may trigger big emotional shifts experienced by people coping with “These new findings may explain why a higher-than-normal percentage of people with IBS and functional bowel problems develop depression and anxiety,” Pasricha says. “That’s important, because up to 30 to 40 percent of the population has functional bowel problems at some point.” New Gut Understanding Equals New Treatment Opportunities This new understanding of the ENS-CNS connection helps explain the effectiveness of IBS and bowel-disorder treatments such as antidepressants and mind-body therapies like co...