Wissenschaftler setzten menschliche Darmbakterien in Mäuse ein und stellten fest, dass ihre Gehirne eine primatenähnliche Aktivität zeigten. Darmbakterien versorgen das Gehirn nicht nur mit Energie – sie können auch dazu beitragen, die Funktionsweise und Entwicklung des Gehirns zu beeinflussen.

there’s a vast amount of research being done at the moment regarding pathogens, microbes, and the gut microbiome as it relates to brain development and disease. really feels like we are at an inflection point here.

The gut-brain axis is a thing, but I’m always skeptical of extraordinary claims like this – esp from pop sci sources.

If you’re wondering what qualified as „Primate-like Activity“, this paragraph explains a little:

„When researchers looked closely at brain tissue, they found that microbes from large-brain primates boosted activity in genes tied to energy production and synaptic plasticity“

We’re really just incompetent managers of a corporation of bacteria.

One of my best friends is a bariatric surgeon and once told me it isn’t unheard of for patients to develop radically different personalities and habits after having large portions of their guts chopped out (for example, cancer).  He has seen someone who never gambled all of the sudden become a compulsive gambler, someone who never smoked all of the sudden become a chain smoker, someone who never drank become an alcoholic, and other odd behavioral changes in some patients.  And always after surgery.  The point being that when you remove a large portion of the gut you take away tons of the gut microbiome as well, which might impact the gut brain axis.  I have no idea if the phenomena my surgeon friend reported is in medical books or publications or whether it is just an observation of his.