"Visceral Consciousness": The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

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"Visceral Consciousness" : The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914. / Hussey, Kristin D.

In: Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Vol. 95, No. 3, 2021, p. 350-378.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Hussey, KD 2021, '"Visceral Consciousness": The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, vol. 95, no. 3, pp. 350-378. https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2021.0033

APA

Hussey, K. D. (2021). "Visceral Consciousness": The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 95(3), 350-378. https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2021.0033

Vancouver

Hussey KD. "Visceral Consciousness": The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 2021;95(3):350-378. https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2021.0033

Author

Hussey, Kristin D. / "Visceral Consciousness" : The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914. In: Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 2021 ; Vol. 95, No. 3. pp. 350-378.

Bibtex

@article{edaf2e2181c64ef8a4a7b90e1c16ec84,
title = "{"}Visceral Consciousness{"}: The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914",
abstract = "Sleeplessness was a quotidian yet challenging problem for medical practitioners in Britain and America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While physiologists endeavored to unravel the secrets of sleep by examining the brain, in the clinic doctors looked to the gut as a site through which sleeplessnesswas both caused and cured. This article explores the gut-brain axis in medical literature on sleep and sleep loss in this period. It argues that despite the lack of a coherent understanding of the gut-brain connection, the digestive system was central to how physiologists and clinicians approached sleeplessness. It employsVictorian physician Joseph Mortimer Granville{\textquoteright}s (1833–1900) concept of “visceral consciousness” to better understand the varied and often contradictory explanatory constellations that emerged to elucidate the role of digestion in sleeplessness. ",
keywords = "Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, digestion, physiology, history, sleep, insomnia",
author = "Hussey, {Kristin D.}",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.1353/bhm.2021.0033",
language = "English",
volume = "95",
pages = "350--378",
journal = "Bulletin of the History of Medicine",
issn = "0007-5140",
publisher = "Johns Hopkins University Press",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - "Visceral Consciousness"

T2 - The Gut-Brain Axis in Victorian Sleep and Sleeplessness in Britain and America, 1850-1914

AU - Hussey, Kristin D.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Sleeplessness was a quotidian yet challenging problem for medical practitioners in Britain and America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While physiologists endeavored to unravel the secrets of sleep by examining the brain, in the clinic doctors looked to the gut as a site through which sleeplessnesswas both caused and cured. This article explores the gut-brain axis in medical literature on sleep and sleep loss in this period. It argues that despite the lack of a coherent understanding of the gut-brain connection, the digestive system was central to how physiologists and clinicians approached sleeplessness. It employsVictorian physician Joseph Mortimer Granville’s (1833–1900) concept of “visceral consciousness” to better understand the varied and often contradictory explanatory constellations that emerged to elucidate the role of digestion in sleeplessness.

AB - Sleeplessness was a quotidian yet challenging problem for medical practitioners in Britain and America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While physiologists endeavored to unravel the secrets of sleep by examining the brain, in the clinic doctors looked to the gut as a site through which sleeplessnesswas both caused and cured. This article explores the gut-brain axis in medical literature on sleep and sleep loss in this period. It argues that despite the lack of a coherent understanding of the gut-brain connection, the digestive system was central to how physiologists and clinicians approached sleeplessness. It employsVictorian physician Joseph Mortimer Granville’s (1833–1900) concept of “visceral consciousness” to better understand the varied and often contradictory explanatory constellations that emerged to elucidate the role of digestion in sleeplessness.

KW - Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

KW - digestion

KW - physiology

KW - history

KW - sleep

KW - insomnia

U2 - 10.1353/bhm.2021.0033

DO - 10.1353/bhm.2021.0033

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34924437

VL - 95

SP - 350

EP - 378

JO - Bulletin of the History of Medicine

JF - Bulletin of the History of Medicine

SN - 0007-5140

IS - 3

ER -

ID: 281570468