Where is feces stored

The commands from the brain to the bowel colon are sent as electrical impulses and are carried by a system of special fibres called nerves. These signals start in the brain and go to the spinal cord and continue to the nerves located in the sacral area of the back. Some of these sacral nerves go to the rectum, levator ani muscle, and external sphincter muscles, controlling their activities.

Two key sacral nerves that are vital to the functioning of the bowel are the pudendal nerve and the pelvic splanchnic nerve. Through a series of reflexes and signals the nerves in the bowel is coordinated with the pelvic floor muscles and anal sphincters in order to store bowel contents until there is an appropriate place to go to the toilet and then to allow complete bowel emptying once on the toilet.

This coordination ensures that the sphincters remain closed, opening only during defecation. So, when the rectum fills, and the pressure inside it increases, the nerves sense the pressure and tell the brain about it.

The brain then sends signals via the nerves to keep the external sphincter closed. Normally, this prevents leakage and is called the guarding reflex. When you need to go to the toilet, the brain tells the nerves to signal the rectum to empty, and relax the muscles surrounding the anus. The rectum empties and stool is expelled. The nerve pathways are also shared with fibres that carry sensory signals, such as pain or fullness. Pain that originates in the pelvic area is transmitted along these pathways to the sacral area, up the spinal cord and back to the brain.

The same happens as the rectum fills. This sensation of filling is registered by the nerves, which transmit the information to the brain. For the bowel to function and work properly you need:. How the Bowel Works. Is feces stored in the small or large intestine? Saikat R. Jan 25, Large Intestine. Explanation: Small intestine digests food and absorb most of the nutrients from digested food.

T The large intestine, on the other hand, has no digestive function. The sigmoid colon is actually the place where feces are mainly stored.

Related questions In what organ is the waste from the digestion process collected for eventual disposal? What organs are affected by diverticulitis? After the food has been passed through the small intestine, it enters the large intestine. Within the large intestine, digestion is retained long enough to allow fermentation via gut bacteria that break down some of the substances that remain after processing in the small intestine.

Some of the breakdown products are absorbed. In humans, these include most complex saccharides at most, three disaccharides are digestible by humans. The large intestine houses over species of bacteria that perform a variety of functions. The large intestine absorbs some of the products formed by the bacteria that inhabit this region.

Undigested polysaccharides fiber are metabolized into short-chain fatty acids by bacteria in the large intestine and get absorbed by passive diffusion. The bicarbonate that the large intestine secretes helps to neutralize the increased acidity from the formation of fatty acids.