Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2022 Dec;51(4):723-739.doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2022.06.011. Epub 2022 Oct 20.

Helen Burton Murray ¹, Brjánn Ljótsson ²

Author information

¹Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck St, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: hbmurray@mgh.harvard.edu.

²Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels väg 9, Solna, Stockholm 171 65, Sweden.

Abstract

With growing evidence to support their efficacy, brain-gut behavior therapies are increasingly viewed as a key component to integrated care management of disorders of gut-brain interaction. However, the types of brain-gut behavior therapies differ in how and for whom they purportedly work. We provide a conceptual review of these brain-gut behavior therapies, with an emphasis on describing how (ie, mechanisms) and for whom (ie, moderators) they work as hypothesized and/or supported by evidence. Based on evidence to date, we recommend that brain-gut behavior therapies prioritize gastrointestinal-specific targets, such as gastrointestinal-specific anxiety.