Functional gastrointestinal disorders are a group of diseases classified by gastrointestinal symptoms, whose symptoms are mainly related to abnormal brain-intestinal axis, motility disorders, visceral hypersensitivity, changes in mucosal and immune function, changes in intestinal flora, and abnormal processing of the central nervous system. The prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders is quite high in the elderly patients. It is difficult to relieve the symptoms with conventional drugs alone, while neuromodulators of central nervous system can significantly improve the symptoms. However, the elderly often have comorbid conditions. Therefore, when using central nervous system modulators, attention should be paid to the type, dosage and drug-drug interactions to avoid toxic and side effects. In this paper, we mainly review the regulatory mechanism and effect, clinical application and side effects of the neuromodulators of central nervous system on different transporters and receptors in order to provide reference for their application for elderly patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders.