The Complementary Relationship Between the Emotional State and the Function of the Ileum in a Human Subject

Correlation of the emotional state with the motor and biochemical activity of an isolated segment of ileum in a human subject was observed. Motor activity was increased with arousal and decreased in slates of withdrawal. Both the emotional slate and the motor activity of the ileum were related to the total adaptation of the organism. As judged by the rates of absorption of 18 individual amino acids, there is confirmation of Engel's finding that in depression-withdrawal physiological alterations occur at the cellular level, even in this isolated segment of small intestine.