Yet More on Controlling the Mind through the Gut

From Nature News:

Beneficial gut bacteria, or probiotics, have been shown in the past to alleviate symptoms of stress and anxiety, but it wasn't clear whether the bugs could have an impact on the brains of healthy animals. Now, John Cryan, a pharmacologist with the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Center at University College Cork, Ireland, and colleagues have found that probiotics have a direct impact on mood neurotransmitters in mice. The findings further support the idea that one way to heal problems of the mind might be through the stomach. . . .

"It's pretty convincing," says Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. "These days our microbiota are being implicated in just about everything."