PROMPT: Describe how microbial communities in the body could influence brain and mental health states. Then, describe how brain and mental health states could influence microbial communities in the body. In what ways might these promote health and/or disease?
The human gut microbiome is home to over 100 trillion microorganisms, most of which researchers have no real idea of the functions of. We do know, however, that the gut microbiome is an extremely influential being in the human body. In recent studies, the microbiome has been labelled by some as, an entire new organ system in the body. The reason for this is that we have been finding in recent years, that the gut microbiome is influential on things such as allergic disease, gastrointestinal cancer and other GI illnesses, asthma, obesity, and even human mental health. The microbiome could certainly influence brain and mental health states, given all of its functions. The gut microflora help to assist in digestion, absorb nutrients, produce vitamins for overall health and immune system function and efficiency. These are a list of several things that ma contribute to human mental health state. The gut microbiome also has a major influence on the gastrointestinal tract. Poor bacterial diversity in the gut has been known to lead complicated gastrointestinal diseases. The science is still very new, and there is little really known about the influence of the gut microbiome, but it is extremely clear that the bacterial abundance has some kind of influence on the brain and states associated with it.
Studies have shown in recent years also, that the brain can actually influence the microbial communities in the body. One of the things that I was able to read about is that the main influential factor from the brain on the gut is known to be stress/stressful situations. Stress related incidences, such as early life stress have been proven to lead to mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. Another interesting point to be made is that many researchers claim that stress may greatly alter the microbial communities in the gut. Sexual and/or psychological abuse can certainly lead to high stress incidence. High stress results in an influx of cortisol in the brain, which has been linked to being influential on bodily functions including the immunological and metabolic systems.
