Emeran Mayer, M.D. '22 Contributor Since 2022
Neuroscientist, Director | UCLA G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience
Biography:
Mayer is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Executive Director of the G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience and Founding Director of the UCLA Brain Gut Microbiome Center.
He is a world renowned neuroscientist and gastroenterologist with 35 years of experience studying neurobiological and clinical aspects of how the digestive system and the nervous system interact in health and disease. He has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Mentor Award from the American Gastroenterological Association, the Ismar Boas medal from the German Society for Gastroenterology and Metabolic Disease and the 2016 David McLean award from the American Psychosomatic Society. Some of the questions addressed in his research include:
- What are the brain mechanisms that regulate the subjective sensitivity to visceral, somatic, auditory, gustatory and chemical stimuli?
- How does chronic intestinal inflammation alter the structure and function of the brain, in particular sensory and emotion regulating regions?
- How do traumatic events experienced early in life alter the brain?
- How does the male and female brain differ in chronic pain?
- How do mind-based therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy affect the brain?
- What role does food and the gut microbiome have in reshaping our brains?
His current research, focused on the role of the gut microbiota brain interactions, has expanded to emotion regulation, food addiction and obesity, chronic visceral pain, cognitive decline and autism spectrum disorders.
His research has been continuously supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has published almost 400 peer reviewed scientific articles, including 100 chapters and reviews, four co-edited books, and several interdisciplinary symposia in the area of mind body interactions and chronic visceral pain.
His book, The Mind Gut Connection Book was published in 2016, became a bestseller in Gastroenterology, and has been translated into 16 languages. His new book, The Gut Immune Connection, connects the health of the soil and plant microbiome to brain and gut health.