Beyond the 'second brain': the gut microbiota as a constitutive co-constructor of embodied cognitive network.
Frontiers in Neuroscience 2026 Yue Gou, Xuemei Liu, Wenjie Zhu et al. 1 citation
Traditional cognitive science has historically confined the mind within the cranium. While the "second brain" metaphor underscores the autonomy of the enteric nervous system, it remains entrenched in a neurocentric paradigm. Here, we propose a transformative framework: the gut microbiota may function as a constitutively relevant contributor to specific embodied cognitive architectures. We...