Gut Bacteria And The Brain: Are We Controlled By Microbes?

Although the interaction between our brain and gut has been studied for years, its complexities run deeper than initially thought. It seems that our minds are, in some part, controlled by the bacteria in our bowels.

The gut has defenses against pathogens, but, at the same time, it encourages the survival and growth of "healthy" gut bacteria.

The vast majority of these single-celled visitors are based in the colon, where no less than 1 trillion reside in each gram of intestinal content.

Estimating the number of bacterial guests in our gut is challenging; to date, the best guess is that 40 trillion bacteria call our intestines home - partially dependent on the size of your last bowel movement (poop's major ingredient is bacteria).

Read more: Gut Bacteria And The Brain: Are We Controlled By Microbes?

How much sway can a microbe hold? Bacterial influence over human psychology is slowly coming
into focus.

Source: medicalnewstoday

The Mucosal Immune System: Master Regulator of Bidirectional Gut–Brain Communications

Communication between the brain and gut is not one-way, but a bidirectional highway whereby reciprocal signals between the two organ systems are exchanged to coordinate function. The messengers of this complex dialogue include neural, metabolic, endocrine and immune mediators responsive to diverse environmental cues, including nutrients and components of the intestinal microbiota (microbiota–gut–brain axis). We are now starting to understand how perturbation of these systems affects transition between health and disease. The pathological repercussions of disordered gut–brain dialogue are probably especially pertinent in functional gastrointestinal diseases, including IBS and functional dyspepsia. New insights into these pathways might lead to novel treatment strategies in these common gastrointestinal diseases. In this Review, we consider the role of the immune system as the gatekeeper and master regulator of brain–gut and gut–brain communications. Although adaptive immunity (T cells in particular) participates in this process, there is an emerging role for cells of the innate immune compartment (including innate lymphoid cells and cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system). We will also consider how these key immune cells interact with the specific components of the enteric and central nervous systems, and rapidly respond to environmental variables, including the microbiota, to alter gut homeostasis.

Key points

• Common gastrointestinal diseases, such as IBS, functional dyspepsia and IBD, are closely linked to psychological morbidity
• This link is driven in part through bidirectional signaling between the brain and gut, which reciprocally regulate each other
• Growing evidence implicates the importance of immune activation, which might be overt (IBD) or more subtle (IBS, functional dyspepsia) in pathological gut–brain interactions
• The composition of the intestinal microbiota affects behaviour and mood, which could in part rely on selective activation of distinct host cytokine responses
• Therapeutic targeting of gut microorganisms, host immunity or psychological symptoms could hold the key to uncoupling pathological interactions between the gut and brain

Read more: The Mucosal Immune System: Master Regulator of Bidirectional Gut–Brain Communications

Key brain–immune–gut interactions

Source: Nature Reviews: Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Sensation of Touch Restored After More Than a Decade of Paralysis

Surgeons have restored the sensation of touch to a paralyzed man using a robotic arm connected to electrodes in his brain.

Twelve years ago a promising science student, Nathan Copeland, was involved in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He went from being an active 18-year old to being quadriplegic. He was unable to feel anything from the chest down and could not move his lower arms and legs, so needed assistance with all his daily activities.

Read more: Sensation of Touch Restored After More Than a Decade of Paralysis

Source: NewsMedical

This Type Of Vitamin E Could Predict Your Risk For Alzheimer's—And You're Probably Not Getting Enough Of It

Vitamin E is essential for normal neurological function, according to a 2013 Journal of Internal Medicine study, which found that low levels of some types of the vitamin could help predict your risk for Alzheimer's disease. Looking to take back control of your health? 

Some types? That's right: There are different types of vitamin E. In fact, there are 8 varieties or "isoforms" of E, and research suggests your brain needs all of them for optimal health and function.

Read more: This Type Of Vitamin E Could Predict Your Risk For Alzheimer's—And You're Probably Not Getting Enough Of It

Source: msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition

Watch Slides Video: 9 Ways To Control Your Risk Of Alzheimer's

The Best Medicine Against Cholesterol And High Blood Pressure

Cholesterol is a waxy substance that comes from two sources: your body and food. Excess cholesterol can form plaque between layers of artery walls, making it harder for your heart to circulate blood.

Plaque can break open and cause blood clots. If a clot blocks an artery that feeds the brain, it causes a stroke. If it blocks an artery that feeds the heart, it causes a heart attack.

Heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are among the leading cause of death and now kill more than 800,000 adults in the US each year. Two main reasons people have heart disease or stroke are high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Read more: The Best Medicine Against Cholesterol And High Blood Pressure

Source: herb-cookbook

Language Learning Boosts Brain Plasticity And Ability To Code New Information

By studying brain electrical activity of volunteers, researchers found that language acquisition enhances brain plasticity and capacity for learning. In particular, they note that early language learning plays a significant role in the rapid formation of memory circuits for coding new information.

In a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the Higher School of Economics (HSE), in Moscow, Russia, and the University of Helsinki, in Finland, describe how they used EEG (electroencephalography) to probe the brain mechanisms involved in language learning in human volunteers.

Previous research has established that understanding the brain mechanisms involved in acquiring language helps enormously in the diagnosis and treatment of people with impaired speech following accidents, strokes, and other related conditions.

Read more: Language Learning Boosts Brain Plasticity And Ability To Code New Information

The researchers found that the more languages a volunteer had mastered, the faster the brain circuits
coding new information reacted.

Source: medicalnewstoday

How Seizures Affect the Body

Having a seizure can be an alarming experience, and whether yours have been mild or severe, you probably have many questions. Understanding what’s happening to your brain and how it’s affecting your body can be helpful and comforting for you and your loved ones as you learn more about managing your condition.

Epilepsy Symptoms

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder, which affects some or all functions of your brain. It can be caused by mutated genes, brain injury or disease. Since your brain controls everything from movement and balance to memory and emotions, an epileptic episode can disrupt this activity, resulting in a seizure or other unusual behaviors or sensations.

Read more: How Seizures Affect the Body

Source: healthguides

Watch: Myths About Epilepsy

Science Behind Power Naps

With a very busy schedule and too much on our plate, we are not getting enough sleep nowadays. Sleep deprivation is very bad for the health and is giving rise to a number of diseases nowadays. Diseases like heart problems, fluctuations in sugar levels, high and low blood pressures and thyroid issues have become very common in sleep deprived individuals. This is where power naps can help.

When you sleep during the day between 1 PM and 4 PM for a period lasting between ten to thirty minutes, it is known as a power nap. If you sleep longer than thirty minutes, you might develop sleep inertia, a groggy feeling. You should also not sleep later than 4 PM as then you will find it difficult to sleep at night.

Read more: Science Behind Power Naps

Source: boldsky

The Current State of Diagnostics for Meningitis and Encephalitis

Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) such as meningitis or encephalitis can be caused by myriad microorganisms and may be life-threatening. Patients with acute CNS infections generally present with similar findings of fever, headache, and neurological changes. Given the similarity in symptomology, it is often difficult to distinguish bacterial and viral infection based on clinical presentation alone. As a result, obtaining a rapid and accurate diagnosis is important for proper patient management. Indeed, rapid identification of CNS pathogens is critical for antimicrobial treatment in cases of bacterial or herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. Any delays in appropriate therapy can lead to poor patient outcomes, including death.

The aim of this Continuing Education article is to review the current landscape for diagnostic testing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in acute CNS infections, present the potential impact of rapid identification, and discuss methods to increase the diagnostic yield in uncertain cases. It is anticipated that new technologies will aid in providing rapid and accurate pathogen identification, potentially leading to better patient outcomes, improved antimicrobial stewardship, and decreased hospital costs.

Read more: The Current State of Diagnostics for Meningitis and Encephalitis

Source: pbs.twimg

How stress increases seizures for patients with epilepsy

It is well known that stress can increase the frequency and severity of seizures for patients with epilepsy. Now, researchers have shed light on why this is, and they may have even found a way to stop it.

Published in the journal Science Signaling, the researchers reveal how epilepsy alters the way brain reacts to stress to cause seizures.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, which are sudden surges of electrical activity in the brain.

Read more: How stress increases seizures for patients with epilepsy

Researchers have shed light on why stress increases seizure frequency for patients with epilepsy.

Source: medicalnewstoday

The brain dictionary!

Where exactly are the words in your head?

Scientists have created an interactive map showing which brain areas respond to hearing different words. The map reveals how language is spread throughout the cortex and across both hemispheres, showing groups of words clustered together by meaning. The beautiful interactive model allows us to explore the complex organization of the enormous dictionaries in our heads.

Explore the brain model for yourself here

Read the paper here

Video link: The brain dictionary!

Source: NatureVideo

Organ regeneration with skin cells turning Into brain and heart cells

In a breakthrough study, researchers were able to chemically change skin cells to heart and brain cells.

When a person’s own body fails them, there are plenty of roadblocks to getting it running again. Adult hearts have a very limited ability to regenerate, so oftentimes the only way to help a person with a failing heart is to get them a new one. This is risky, though, since the patient’s body may reject even a perfectly matched organ. Scientists have been making strides in overcoming that problem by using a patient’s own stem cells to regenerate tissue, and researchers from the Gladstone Institutes have made a major breakthrough in the area — they successfully used a combination of chemicals to transform skin cells into heart and brain cells.

The feat is unprecedented, since all previous attempts to reprogram cells required scientists to add outside genes. Published in Science and Stem Cell, the research gives scientists a foundation for one day being able to regenerate lost or damaged cells with pharmaceuticals. The system is both more reliable and efficient than previous processes, and avoids medical concerns surrounding genetic engineering.

“This method brings us closer to being able to generate new cells at the site of injury in patients,” Dr. Sheng Ding, a Gladstone senior investigator, said in a press release. “Our hope is to one day treat diseases like heart failure or Parkinson’s disease with drugs that help the heart and brain regenerate damaged areas from their own existing tissue cells. This process is much closer to the natural regeneration that happens in animals like newts and salamanders, which has long fascinated us.”

Read more: Organ regeneration with skin cells turning Into brain and heart cells 

Brain cells are hard to fake, but it may now be possible.

Source: Pixabay

Immune cells self-healing brain after stroke

After a stroke, there is inflammation in the damaged part of the brain. Until now, the inflammation has been seen as a negative consequence that needs to be abolished as soon as possible. But, as it turns out, there are also some positive sides to the inflammation, and it can actually help the brain to self-repair.

"This is in total contrast to our previous beliefs", says Professor Zaal Kokaia from Lund University in Sweden.

Zaal Kokaia, together with Professor of Neurology Olle Lindvall, runs a research group at the Lund Stem Cell Center that, in collaboration with colleagues at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, is responsible for these findings. Hopefully, these new data will lead to new ways of treating stroke in the future. The study was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

When stroke occurs, the nerve cells in the damaged area of the brain die, causing an inflammation that attracts cells from the immune system. Among them you find monocytes—a type of white blood cells produced in the bone marrow.

Read more: Immune cells self-healing brain after stroke

False-colored scanning electron micrograph of a blood clot. There are many red blood cells and

a single white blood cell held together in a meshwork of fibrin (brown).

Source: Anne Weston, LRI, CRUK, Wellcome Images

Harvard scientists are stunned by superhuman abilities of Himalayan monks.

Most of us have a fairly good idea that brains of Buddhist monks function far beyond most humans’ capabilities and that the monks can actually rewire their brains. While there is no question that Buddhist monks possess superhuman powers, how they do some really incredible out-of-this-world kind of stuff continues to fascinate and show scientists what we – ‘normal human beings’ – can all do.

Professor Herbert Benson and his team of researchers from the Harvard School Of Medicine went to remote monasteries in the Himalayan mountains in the 1980′s to discover, decode, and document the subtle ways through which the monks manipulate their bodies – like raising the temperatures of their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees, and lowering their body’s metabolic rate by up to 64% – using a stress reduction yoga technique called ‘g Tum-mo’.

The Harvard research team also recorded monks drying cold, wet sheets with body heat. They also documented monks spending a winter night – when temperatures reached zero degrees F – on a rocky ledge 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas — wearing only woolen or cotton shawls. These remarkable feats, the Harvard research team observed, were achieved by intense daily meditations, guided exercises and spiritual conditioning.

Read more: Harvard scientists are stunned by superhuman abilities of Himalayan monks.

Source: anonhq