Chances are you’ve experienced that gut feeling at some point in your life. That nasty feeling in your stomach that you can’t rationally explain. Yet it often happens that people base their choices on their gut† So where does that gut feeling actually come from? And can you trust it?
Link between stomach and brain
That gut feeling is quite a special phenomenon. For example, the feeling that you can trust that one stranger, or that it is better to decline a certain offer. Sometimes jokes are even made about someone holding on to his or her gut feeling† After all, they are feelings that are not based on logic, data or facts. Nevertheless, we must Nawal Mustafa, PhD student in Clinical Neuropsychology, don’t laugh too hard about gut feelings. “They don’t come out of nowhere,” she shares on her Instagram page The Brain Coach.
The gut feeling is not evoked completely randomly, Mustafa continues. For example, there is a connection between your brain and your stomach. “A large part of the serotonin in your body (95 percent) is produced in your gut and these influence your emotions and your mood, among other things. Those gut signals are then passed on to the brain. When high serotonin levels are produced by an external cause, you can feel safe or unsafe depending on the situation,” Mustafa explains, based on a study conducted by the American Psychological Association.
Processed by the brain
You can also experience a gut feeling because of things that your brain has already registered. Our brain processes information all day long – even when we do nothing. Our environment offers so many stimuli from which we store emotional data. “These pieces of information can come from real-life experiences or from indirect experiences, such as a story on television,” Mustafa continues. Those experiences can then (unconsciously) cloud your own judgment. “For example, you may have the gut feeling that someone is cheating on you online because you’ve heard stories of friends who have been cheated online. Even if (almost) nothing indicates a scam, your gut feeling may be telling you to end the deal.”
Trustworthy?
So it’s very normal to experience a gut feeling every now and then, and it’s not completely irrational. “Your gut feeling arises from emotions, processing information and observations,” Mustafa summarizes. However, the specialist advises not to always lift too much weight. “I also advise you not to rely on it in every choice.” It is therefore entirely up to you to what extent you do this.
Source: The Brain Coach | Image: Rachel Claire (Pexels)