Figure 1.

Brain-gut axis and pharmacological approaches for irritable bowel syndrome. This figure shows schematically the targets of the current and novel psychopharmacological therapies for irritable bowel syndrome. The reason to use these approaches is the presence of bidirectional connections between brain and gut: according to this pathophysiological model, emotional and cognitive centers of the brain, particularly those involving pain perception, are linked with peripheral functioning of gastrointestinal tract, and vice versa, thus, conditioning intestinal motility, sensation, and inflammation.