https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15457-9.pdf
The connection between gut microbiome and mental health is a relatively new topic that is being thoroughly researched. This research paper uses gut microbiome genome analysis to determine if there is a difference in gut flora between patients with schizophrenia and normal controls. Patients with schizophrenia tended to have more facultative anaerobes and oral bacteria than controls (Figure 1). Some of these bacteria were noted to have biochemical pathways that result in the synthesis of neurotransmitters or neurotransmitter precursors (Figure 2), suggesting that they could impact mental health. One bacteria in particular that was elevated in schizophrenic patients, Streptococcus vestibularis, was introduced into the guts of healthy mice and induced hyperkinetic behavior in behavioral assays that is similar to that observed in mice after being given psychotomimetic drugs like PCP (Figure 4). Overall, this research provides evidence for the idea that mental health disorders could be in part due to disturbances of healthy gut flora and provides some insight into how the perception and treatment of mental health disorders could change in the future.
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