Bacteria: Changing Minds

Science Photo Library

We've been hearing a lot about bacteria lately. How some have become antibiotic-resistant. How being exposed to the right ones early on could prevent asthma and allergies. And how one strain seems to enjoy life in space more than here on Earth. But wait, there's more! "Recent studies have begun turning up tantalizing hints about how the bacteria living in the gut can alter the way the brain works. These findings raise a question with profound implications for mental health: Can we soothe our brains by cultivating our bacteria?": https://www.sciencenews.org/article/microbes-can-play-games-mind?utm_source=Society+for+Science+Newsletters&utm_campaign=8e5e18628d-Latest_From_Science_News&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a4c415a67f-8e5e18628d-104586561
   "We are, at least from the standpoint of DNA, more microbial than human. That’s a phenomenal insight and one that we have to take seriously when we think about human development," says National Institute of Mental Health director Tom Insel. Mark Lyte, of Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center, has been studying the links between our gut microbes and our brain for three decades: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html