6 ms·

Scientists Find Gut Bacteria in the Human Brain

147 points by dnetesn 8y ago

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
merricksb 8y ago
Different article in different publication about the same topic, discussed here 22 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18431850 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18431850
apo 8y ago
I’ve studied schizophrenia for virtually my whole professional career. I do that by looking at synaptic differences and pathology that might be present in schizophrenic post-mortem brains. Over the years I would see these unknown objects, and disregard them. Then I had an undergraduate student who was part of an honors program here at the University of Alabama, Courtney Walker. She was studying the substantia nigra, which is a region of the brain that contains dopamine neurons. She kept seeing these objects—we called them “those things”—and kept poking at the problem. It started to become a lab obsession. Many aspiring scientists view their lack of experience as a problem to be solved. But as this case shows, inexperience can be an asset. Not being entirely convinced of what's impossible is a critical component of making discoveries. The longer you're in a field, the harder it is to maintain skepticism about the impossible.
- kirykl 8y ago
  Feynman summed this up as "Disregard" https://stepsandleaps.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/feynmans-breakthrough-disregard-others/ https://stepsandleaps.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/feynmans-brea...
- sangnoir 8y ago
  > But as this case shows, inexperience can be an asset. See oft-posted example of George Dantzig: arrived to a lecture late and assumed problems written on the board were homework. He proceeded to solve them, and only discovered afterwards that they were open/unsolved problems in the field of statistical theory. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig
- rapnie 8y ago
  Today there was on Dutch news mention of an UK couple who - without any prior psychology background - started working on treating trauma patients, and found the most effective method so far, which is based on eye movements (and validated since by Dutch scientists). They said that their lack of preconceived notions of how things should work, made them completely free to find new approaches. Edit: New method called VSDT (Visual Schema Displacement Therapy) developed by Nik en Eva Speakman, validated by Suzy Matthijssen Source (NL): https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/nieuwe-oogknippertherapie-tegen-traumas/ https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/nieuwe-oogknippertherapi...
- carlmr 8y ago
  Often we don't listen enough to the inexperienced: https://danluu.com/wat/ https://danluu.com/wat/
londons_explore 8y ago
My bet is on this being contamination still...
NotANaN 8y ago
So...literally shit for brains?
8bitsrule 8y ago
Found article at this URL. http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockworknbsp/are-there-bacteria-in-your-brain http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockworknbsp/are-there-bacteria-i... Her mention of the lack of a mechanism for how microbiome influences the brain is, I think, sufficient reason to keep this germinal fact in mind.

147 points by dnetesn 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Different article in different publication about the same topic, discussed here 22 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18431850 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18431850

apo 8y ago

I’ve studied schizophrenia for virtually my whole professional career. I do that by looking at synaptic differences and pathology that might be present in schizophrenic post-mortem brains. Over the years I would see these unknown objects, and disregard them. Then I had an undergraduate student who was part of an honors program here at the University of Alabama, Courtney Walker. She was studying the substantia nigra, which is a region of the brain that contains dopamine neurons. She kept seeing these objects—we called them “those things”—and kept poking at the problem. It started to become a lab obsession. Many aspiring scientists view their lack of experience as a problem to be solved. But as this case shows, inexperience can be an asset. Not being entirely convinced of what's impossible is a critical component of making discoveries. The longer you're in a field, the harder it is to maintain skepticism about the impossible.

kirykl 8y ago
Feynman summed this up as "Disregard" https://stepsandleaps.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/feynmans-breakthrough-disregard-others/ https://stepsandleaps.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/feynmans-brea...
sangnoir 8y ago
> But as this case shows, inexperience can be an asset. See oft-posted example of George Dantzig: arrived to a lecture late and assumed problems written on the board were homework. He proceeded to solve them, and only discovered afterwards that they were open/unsolved problems in the field of statistical theory. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig
rapnie 8y ago
Today there was on Dutch news mention of an UK couple who - without any prior psychology background - started working on treating trauma patients, and found the most effective method so far, which is based on eye movements (and validated since by Dutch scientists). They said that their lack of preconceived notions of how things should work, made them completely free to find new approaches. Edit: New method called VSDT (Visual Schema Displacement Therapy) developed by Nik en Eva Speakman, validated by Suzy Matthijssen Source (NL): https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/nieuwe-oogknippertherapie-tegen-traumas/ https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/item/nieuwe-oogknippertherapi...
carlmr 8y ago
Often we don't listen enough to the inexperienced: https://danluu.com/wat/ https://danluu.com/wat/

londons_explore 8y ago

My bet is on this being contamination still...

NotANaN 8y ago

So...literally shit for brains?

8bitsrule 8y ago

Found article at this URL. http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockworknbsp/are-there-bacteria-in-your-brain http://nautil.us/issue/66/clockworknbsp/are-there-bacteria-i... Her mention of the lack of a mechanism for how microbiome influences the brain is, I think, sufficient reason to keep this germinal fact in mind.