Mycobacterium vaccae bacteria are already know to decrease anxiety , but it might have even more spectacular prop . late studies on mice indicate the bacterium , usually found in the soils of people ’s garden , also increases intelligence information and the ability to teach .
Dorothy Matthews and Susan Jenks , both of The Sage Colleges in Troy , New York , look for to build on old experiments in which dead song of the bacteria were injected into mice , spur the neurons of the mice to greatly increase serotonin production . The more immediate effect of all this extra 5-hydroxytryptamine , of course , was decreased anxiousness floor , take the early researchers to conclude M. vaccae has antidepressant calibre .
But Matthews was concerned in a more collateral effect :
“ Since 5-hydroxytryptamine encounter a role in learning we wondered if hot M. vaccae could improve learning in mice . ”
To assess this , Matthews and Jenks had two group of mice ; the data-based radical was fertilize live specimen of the bacterium , while the control group was not . They were then examine in a tangle to see how well the two group could pilot the challenge .
The difference was striking :
“ We found that mice that were feed live M. vaccae voyage the labyrinth twice as fast and with less demonstrated anxiety behaviors as control mice . ”
The mice were retested twice after the bacterium was take from their diet . When they were tested almost right away afterward , they were n’t quite as expert , but still got through the maze much faster than their restraint counterparts . Tested a final sentence three weeks afterward , the mouse were still a little faster , but not to a statistically significant extent . This suggest the result of the bacterium on get word is irregular , although humans with their greater cognitive content might be able to infer more lasting benefits from exposure to M. vaccae .
Certainly , Matthews think it ’s an idea that ’s deserving following up on :
“ This enquiry suggests that M. vaccae may wager a role in anxiousness and pick up in mammal . It is interesting to speculate that creating get word environments in schools that include prison term in the outdoors where M. vaccae is present may fall anxiousness and improve the power to learn fresh tasks . ”
[ American Society of Microbiology ]
BacteriaBiologyMad BiologyScience
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