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They didn't actually find that microbes talk to the brain through cortisol. They just found an association between gut microbes, cortisol and the brain. We alr
by cpncrunch 9y ago
They didn't actually find that microbes talk to the brain through cortisol. They just found an association between gut microbes, cortisol and the brain.
We already know that the brain influences gut microbes through cortisol. So why did they not say that this is the most likely route for communication, rather than speculating on an unproven association in the other direction?
I find it odd that these studies keep popping up, and HN users keep voting for them. It seems there is a great desire for people to want to blame bacteria for autism/depression/IBS/CFS, rather than accepting a neurological or psychiatric cause.
Now, I'm not saying this stuff shouldn't be researched. Of course it should. It's just sad that people automatically assume the direction of causation is the unlikely one (gut->brain), rather than the one we know for certain exists (brain->gut). (And yes, we do know there is a gut-brain pathway, but generally it is just active during infections).
- brightball 9y agoOn the autism side, it's because autism also comes with serious gastrointestinal issues. So many people think it's just a neurological issue but there is a legitimate, non-conspiratorial link there. What people want to know, is why? https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/new-insight-autism-and-intestinal-problems https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/new-insigh...
- nudiustertian 9y agoas an autistic person with many autistic friends i would definitely like you not to grossly simplify the matter so bluntly. thanks
- brightball 9y agoI mean no offense, but what am I simplifying?
- vanderZwan 9y agoWell, there is the case where a double-blind research project into a gut microbial cure (I believe it had something to do with cancer) failed the double-blindness aspect because the doctors could tell which patient got the real treatment and which one got the control group, because those with the real bacteria were visibly happier (and no, the control group did not have more digestion problems). I recall reading about this a few years back in the New Scientist. There is also the fact that many of the people who get their stomach stapled report (usually temporary) changes in taste, in the sense that a glass of orange juice might suddenly taste like fish for a few weeks. That only makes sense if the stomach is somehow involved in the process of flavour perception. So there definitely is more going on between the gut and the brain than the former only sending sensory information to the latter and the latter then deciding what happens next. We just don't know how that works yet.