The gut-brain connection is no joke； it can link anxiety to stomach problems and vice versa.Have you ever had a ‟gut-wrenching” experience？ Do certain situations make you ‟feelnauseous？” Have you ever felt ‟butterflies” in your stomach？ We use these expressions for areason. The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotions. Anger, anxiety, sadness, elation — all ofthese feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut. The brain has a direct effect on thestomach and intestines. For example, the very thought of eating can release the stomach's juicesbefore food gets there. This connection goes both ways. A troubled intestine can send signals to thebrain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. Therefore, a person's stomach or intestinaldistress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. That's because the brainand the gastrointestinal (GI) system are intimately connected. This is especially true in cases wherea person experiences gastrointestinal upset with no obvious physical cause. For such functional GIdisorders, it is difficult to try to heal a distressed gut without considering the role of stress andemotion.
         Given how closely the gut and brain interact, it becomes easier to understand why you mightfeel nauseated before giving a presentation, or feel intestinal pain during times of stress. Thatdoesn't mean, however, that functional GI conditions are imagined or ‟all in your head.”Psychology combines with physical factors to cause pain and other bowel symptoms. Psychosocialfactors influence the actual physiology of the gut, as well as symptoms. In other words, stress (ordepression or other psychological factors) can affect movement and contractions of the GI tract. Inaddition, many people with functional GI disorders perceive pain more acutely than other people dobecause their brains are more responsive to pain signals from the GI tract. Stress can make theexisting pain seem even worse.
        Based on these observations, you might expect that at least some patients with functional GIconditions might improve with therapy to reduce stress or treat anxiety or depression. Multiplestudies have found that psychologically based approaches lead to greater improvement in digestivesymptoms compared with only conventional medical treatment. So next time when you have anupset stomach, you may try to take care of your emotions while taking medication so that you canhave your symptoms subside sooner.
【題組】41. What is the main idea of the passage？
(A) All the expressions related to the digestive system have been proved to be evidence-based.
(B) Traditional medical treatment to digestive symptoms leads to greater improvement thanother approaches.
(C) One’s gastrointestinal state is responsive to his psychological state and vice versa.
(D) It is of vital importance to take good care of one’s gastrointestinal system.