Summary
Today, I chat with Dr. Emeran Mayer, Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress & Resilience and UCLA Distinguished Professor of Medicine, about the bidirectional communication between our mind, brain and gut. We’ll talk about what the mind-gut connection is, how it may be affected during these unique times and how we can improve our diet to foster a healthier microbiome.
More about Dr. Emeran Mayer
Emeran A Mayer is a Gastroenterologist, Neuroscientist and Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Psychiatry and Physiology in the V & T Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is the Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at UCLA, and co-director of the CURE: Digestive Diseases Research Center. As one of the pioneers and leading researchers in the role of mind-brain-body interactions in health and chronic disease, his scientific contributions to U.S. national and international communities in the broad area of basic and translational enteric neurobiology with wide-ranging applications in clinical GI diseases and disorders is unparalleled. He has published more than 350 scientific papers, and co edited 3 books. He has published the bestselling book The Mind Gut Connection, and is currently working on a second book to be published in early 2021. He is the recipient of the 2016 David McLean award from the American Psychosomatic Society and the 2017 Ismar Boas Medal from the German Society of Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disease. His research interest is focused on the role of brain gut microbiome interactions in human diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, autism spectrum disorders, obesity and functional and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Mayer has a longstanding interest in ancient healing traditions and affords them a level of respect rarely found in Western Medicine. He has been involved in documentary film productions about the Yanomami people in the Orinoco region of Venezuela, and the Asmat people in Irian Jaya. He has co produced the award winning documentary “In Search of Balance” and is working on a new documentary “Interconnected Planet”. He is a strong believer in Buddhist philosophy, was a member of the UCLA Zen Center for several years, and got married in a Tibetan monastery by Choekyi Nyima Rinpoche in Kathmandu. He regularly pursues meditative practices.
Dr. Mayer has been interviewed on National Public Radio, PBS and by many national and international media outlets including the Los AngelesTimes, Atlantic and Time magazine, GOOP and Stern and Spiegel Online. He has spoken at UCLA TEDx on the Mysterious Origins of Gut Feelings in 2015, and his bestselling book The Mind Gut Connection was published by Harper&Collins in July of 2016, has been translated into twelve languages and has remained an Amazon #1 bestseller.
