Toronto: Intestinal bacteria affect human brains leading to behavioural changes, a recent research has revealed.
McMaster University researchers have come up with the first ever evidence to show that some intestinal bugs do affect brain chemistry and behaviour.
"The exciting results provide stimulus for further investigating a microbial component to the causation of behavioural illnesses," said Stephen Collins, professor of medicine at McMasters.
The findings are important because several common types of gastro diseases, including irritable bowel syndrome, are attributed to anxiety or depression. Besides, some psychiatric disorders, such as late onset autism, may also be linked with abnormal bacterial content in the gut, the journal Gastroenterology reports.
Collins and Premysl Bercik, assistant professor of medicine, undertook the research at the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, according to a McMasters statement.
The researchers also conducted experiments on healthy adult mice which produced behavioural changes on being subjected to oral antibiotics while their normal behaviour returned when antibiotics doses were stopped, Collins said.
IANS
