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. 2021 Sep 1;15(1):27–39. doi: 10.1038/s41385-021-00443-1

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© The Author(s) 2021, corrected publication 2021

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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Fig. 1 — The ENS is made up of neurons and glial cells found within layers of the intestinal wall. Neurons of the ENS are grouped into two main plexi, the myenteric plexus and the submucosal plexus. Intrinsic sensory neurons detect mechanical and chemical signals from the lumen and pass information to secretomotor neurons, vasodilator neurons, interneurons and motor neurons. Enteric neurons communicate via neurotransmitter release from the axonal swelling structures known as varicosities. Several types of epithelial cells line the mucosa layer, including different types of enteroendocrine cells and goblet cells, can also interact with enteric neurons and glial cells to control GI physiology. Foong JPP, Hung LY, Poon S, Savidge TC, Bornstein JC. Early life interaction between the microbiota and the enteric nervous system. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 2020; 319(5): G541–G548.