Having a 鈥済ut feeling鈥� about something may not just be a metaphor. New research suggests that feeling intense emotions is accompanied by changes to our stomach鈥檚 pH.
at the Sapienza University of Rome and her colleagues asked 31 men with an average age of 24 to swallow a commercially available smart pill that measures pH, temperature and pressure in the gut.
They then watched a series of videos that elicit disgust, fear and happiness while the sensor travelled down their gastrointestinal tract, before being passed naturally.
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After each video, the participants completed a questionnaire that asked them to rate the intensity of the emotions they were experiencing.
When the participants watched the disgusting and scary videos, their stomach鈥檚 pH was more acidic than it was at a baseline measurement.
Those with the most acidic pH reported feeling the most disgusted and fearful. It is unclear whether a particularly acidic stomach heightens these emotions or if experiencing these emotions results in more acidity.
The participants who reported feeling happy, regardless of the video they watched, had a less acidic pH in their stomach.
Feeling a particular emotion wasn鈥檛 linked to temperature or pressure changes in any part of the participants鈥� gastrointestinal tracts.
Negative emotions may induce acid secretion in the stomach, says at the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal, pointing to , which are caused by excess acidity.
To establish whether our emotions influence our stomach鈥檚 acidity, or vice versa, Porciello says the researchers could administer proton pump inhibitors 鈥� which stop the stomach lining from producing too much acid 鈥� to see if this correlates with a fall in the intensity of negative emotions.
at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, says other technologies that measure gas composition or chemical concentrations in the gut could help the researchers 鈥済ain more granular insight鈥� into the relationship between our emotions and gastrointestinal changes.
Porciello and her team are now carrying out a similar study on female participants. In the future, they hope to determine how changes in the gut may influence our emotional and cognitive states.
bioRxiv
