Subject: Enteric "brain"
From: "William J. Rapaport" <rapaport@BUFFALO.EDU>
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 19:48:24 -0400

You may recall that Mike Prentice early in the semester asked about the
"enteric brain":  a cluster of neurons in the gut that has sometimes
been considered as a second "brain".  Here's an article that makes that
argument:

Gershon, Michael D. (1999), "The Enteric Nervous System:  A Second
Brain", Hospital Practice 34(7) (July 15): 31-52.
http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/Papers/Papers.by.Others/gershon99.pdf

You'll need the usual username & password to access this.

Here is one quote that I found especially interesting:

"The vagus nerve [which starts in the brainstem and goes to the
abdomen] is normally responsible for commanding gthe vast microcircuits
of the E[nteric]N[ervous]S[ystem] to carry out their appointed tasks.
What it cannot do...is tell them *how* to carry them out.  That is
strictly an inside job, and one that the gut is marvelously capable of
performing." (p. 32)

That makes it sound as if the ENS is a "module", which, if Baars is
right, also renders it unconscious.