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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.08.13.744397

Daily Bowel Movements are Associated with Stronger Gut-Brain Phase-Amplitude Coupling and Better Cognitive Performance

Ertürk, Z.·Nielsen, K.·Jakobsen, L. M. A.·Gottlieb, A. D.·Bertram, H. C.·Roager, H. M.·Karabanov, A. N.
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Abstract

Gut-brain communication has emerged as a rapidly expanding field of research, with recent electrophysiological studies revealing rhythmic gut-brain coupling between gastric activity and brain oscillations in humans. Gut motility is a key determinant of gastrointestinal function, but it remains unclear whether individual differences in gut motility reflected by weekly bowel movements (e.g., defecation frequency) are associated with differences in gut-brain coupling. Here, we address this question by examining women with self-reported daily bowel movements (N = 38) and women with less frequent bowel movements (N = 38). We recorded simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) and electrogastrography (EGG) at fasting state, performed cognitive assessments, and analysed faecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as markers of colonic fermentation. In a subset of participants, EEG-EGG coupling was assessed twice over an interval of at least eight weeks to assess test-retest reliability. In this group, EEG-EGG coupling showed moderate test-retest reliability (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) = 0.50). When comparing the two groups of women, the phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) analysis between EEG and EGG signals revealed a significantly stronger gut-brain coupling in women with daily bowel movements compared to women with less frequent bowel movements (p = 0.03). We additionally found that women with daily bowel movements made less errors in the cognitive tasks and had higher levels of faecal SCFAs. A path analysis suggested that bowel movements significantly affect gut-brain phase-amplitude coupling through faecal SCFAs. However, neither faecal SCFAs nor phase-amplitude coupling significantly predicted cognitive performance, suggesting the existence of alternative pathways for the association between bowel movements and cognitive performance. Together, our findings suggest that the strength of gut-brain coupling is associated with bowel movements and cognitive performance, making EEG-EGG coupling a promising marker of human gut-brain interactions.

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Ertürk, Z., Nielsen, K., Jakobsen, L. M. A., Gottlieb, A. D., Bertram, H. C., Roager, H. M., Karabanov, A. N.. 2026-08-22. Daily Bowel Movements are Associated with Stronger Gut-Brain Phase-Amplitude Coupling and Better Cognitive Performance. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.08.13.744397

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