One Awesome Effect Eating Yogurt May Have on Your Brain
Since earlier studies have linked gastrointestinal microbiota—the trillions of bacteria in the digestive tract—to brain health
University College Cork researchers investigated if this association could affect an aging brain.
Professors transplanted "good" gut bacteria from young (3–4 months) or elderly (19–20 months) mice into old mice.After brain scans and tests like the rodent maze
the authors found that mice given the "adolescent" microbiome had less anxiety, a characteristic Alzheimer's disease symptom, and better memory and cognitive function.
The scans showed that their brains had chemicals and gene patterns like a juvenile mouse's. The latest findings were reported in Nature Aging.
"This new research is a potential game-changer, as we have established that the microbiome can be harnessed to reverse age-related brain deterioration
University College Cork professor and vice president for research and innovation John F. Cryan in a press statement.
Despite saying this discovery is still in its "early days," a colleague and research center head said
The study opens up possibilities in the future to modulate gut microbiota as a therapeutic target to influence brain health."
The Alzheimer's Association reports that over six million Americans have this brain illness, which slowly impairs memory, thinking, and reasoning
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, doubles every five years after 65.