Gut microbes could drive brain disorders
How gut microbes could drive brain disorders

        

        
            
        
        
            
                
                    

    
        
            
                NEWS FEATURE
                03 February 2021
                
                        Correction 08 February 2021
                
            

            

            
                
                
                    Scientists are starting to work out how the gut microbiome can affect brain health. That might lead to better and easier treatments for brain diseases.
                
            
        
        
            
    
        
            
                
                    Cassandra Willyard
                
                
                    
                        
                            Cassandra Willyard is a science journalist in Madison, Wisconsin.
                        
                    
                
                
                    
                
            
        
    

        
    
    


                    
                        
    
            
            
    
    
        
             Illustration by Fabio Buonocore
        
    

                    
                    
            
            


        
            
                
                    
                        

                        
                    
                
            

            
                

                

                
                    In 2006, soon after she launched her own laboratory, neuroscientist Jane Foster discovered something she felt sure would set her field abuzz. She and her team were working with two groups of mice: one with a healthy selection of microorganisms in their guts, and one that lacked a microbiome. They noticed that the mice without gut bacteria seemed less anxious than their healthy equivalents. When placed in a maze with some open paths and some walled-in ones, they preferred the exposed paths. The bacteria in the gut seemed to be influencing their brain and behaviour.
                    
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                Nature 590, 22-25 (2021)
                doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00260-3
                
                    Updates & Corrections
                    
                                Correction 08 February 2021: An earlier version of this Feature erroneously located McMaster University in Toronto.
                            
                    
                

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