Gut bacteria can change behaviour

[ferrelhadley]

Not sure how to write a title for this. But there has been a lot of interest in linking bacteria in your gut to things like depression and obesity. Now some research in mice shows that their gut bacteria can change maternalistic behaviour in mothers. Not directly applicable to humans, but the field is really worth keeping an eye on.

AAAS

advances.sciencemag.org

Maternal behavior is necessary for optimal development and growth of offspring. The intestinal microbiota has emerged as a critical regulator of growth and development in the early postnatal period life. Here, we describe the identification of an intestinal Escherichia colistrain that is pathogenic to the maternal-offspring system during the early postnatal stage of life and results in growth stunting of the offspring. However, rather than having a direct pathogenic effect on the infant, we found that this particular E. coli strain was pathogenic to the dams by interfering with the maturation of maternal behavior. This resulted in malnourishment of the pups and impaired insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling, leading to the consequential stunted growth. Our work provides a new understanding of how the microbiota regulates postnatal growth and an additional variable that must be considered when studying the regulation of maternal behavior.

 

[hypernormalized]

I've been hearing about this for some time and I have to say it doesn't surprise me.

Whenever I find myself feeling acutely anxious I get awful stomach cramps and it seems to affect my digestion a lot. Sometimes it ends up being a feedback loop.

That's probably a hormonal thing, but it's not really much of a jump from there to imagine that gut bacteria can affect moods. I mean, you're talking about basic food metabolism, possible low levels of pain, etc.

I generally think that mental and physical health are interlinked to a far greater extent than we give credit.

 

[8ball]

To anyone on here that I’ve called a shithead - this isn’t what I meant.

 

[paul mckenna]

Once ate 3 large packets of celery sticks and completely shat my ring. I felt proper anxious for a good couple weeks straight away