Enteric Nervous System
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is also called the abdominal brain.
Because of its functional independence, this intestinal wall nervous system is now regarded as an independent third part of the vegetative nervous system.
The ENS regulates the organs of the digestive process by influencing the movements of the intestine (intestinal motility), its ion transports (i.e. secretion) and its blood supply. It works with two plexus structures in the intestinal wall, the plexus myentericus and the plexus submucosus.
(You will find more information about the plexus in the Gastrointestinal Tract module).
Scientists suspect that the exchange of information between the enteric nervous system and the brain also plays a role in intuitive decisions ("gut decisions").