Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Functional dyspepsia (FD) is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases, associated with poor treatment outcomes and high health care costs. Patients with FD experience stomach pain without a known cause, and high prevalence of anxiety. However, little is known about the mechanism of FD. One possible explanation is an abnormal interaction between the gut and brain, which has yet to be investigated in FD treatment responses. Our project will use advanced non-invasive brain and gut imaging to understand mechanisms of FD and treatment outcomes following eight weeks of cognitive behavioural therapy and non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation. Our research will provide new evidence on mechanism of FD and a novel treatment approach for FD.