Social skills are also related to the intestines?

When meeting a stranger, do you take the initiative to greet you and make friends, or remain coldly indifferent? Although we know that the brain is the commander-in-chief of actions, scientific research in recent years has found that how the brain works is also affected by the intestines

Recently, researchers published a research paper in the top academic journal "Nature", revealing how intestinal bacteria affect the activity of the brain's neural network, leading to changes in the social behavior of mice

In experimental mice, the researchers observed that the presence of intestinal flora is essential for normal social behavior

Dr.

What are the changes in the brains of these unwilling animals?

In order to uncover the mystery behind it, the researchers first examined a gene in the mouse brain, c-Fos

This means that more "stress hormones" will be released from the body of sterile mice

▲Use c-Fos (red) to indicate the activated neurons in the mouse stria terminalis bed nucleus (BNST) (picture source: reference [2]; Credit: Wu Weili/Caltech& NCKU)

Following this clue, the researchers found some neurons with special functions in the brain area that regulates the production of stress hormones: by not allowing these neurons to become active, it can help sterile mice to improve their social skills; on the contrary, in normal mice Activating these neurons in the medium will cause them to suddenly become frightened

These findings suggest that the bacteria in the intestine may in some way be able to "pacify" these neurons and regulate the production of stress hormones

By analyzing the characteristics of the flora and screening in vivo experiments, the researchers found that Enterococcus faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis) has such an effect

▲When the intestinal flora is lacking, a series of changes will occur in the body and brain, causing the mice to show resistance to social behavior (picture source: reference [2])

Researchers pointed out that some mental illnesses (such as depression, autism, etc.

Note: The original text has been deleted

Reference materials:

[1] Wu,WL.

[2] Identifying the Neural Link Between Gut Bacteria and Social Behavior in Mice.