Jornal de Pesquisa do Cérebro

Link between Gastrointestinal Disorder, Memory, Eating Behaviour and Stress

Abstract

Tahseen Ara Azad and Sue McHale

One in five people is affected by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and while there is no definitive treatment, there are ways to take control of the condition and
minimize symptoms. IBS is an invisible, fluctuating disease with potentially embarrassing symptoms. The possible causes of IBS such as diet, stress, anxiety,
depression are mutually exclusive. Most of the conditions of IBS are multi-causal and causes interact together to trigger symptoms. This retrospective study
mostly focuses on illustrating the multi-dimensional view of gastrointestinal disorders (specifically IBS). The aim is to determine the association of irritable bowel
syndrome, stress, eating behaviour and memory. In this study, a symptomology questionnaire is designed to assess the type of gastrointestinal disorder based on
symptoms, 2 sets of questionnaires are used to measure the level of stress and pattern of eating behaviour, and paired associate learning (PAL) test is conducted
in CANTAB to estimate short-term memory. The possible hypothesis for the study is to find a positive interlink between gastrointestinal (GI) disorders (particularly
IBS), stress, eating behaviour and short-term memory, as well as to assess and illustrate the level of association and its effect on immunity.