I'm wrapping up a Ph.D. at Arizona State University and my stipend position has been working for the Ask A Biologist program. Part of this involves meeting with faculty at ASU to discuss their...
I'm wrapping up a Ph.D. at Arizona State University and my stipend position has been working for the Ask A Biologist program.
Part of this involves meeting with faculty at ASU to discuss their current research and the journey behind their career, which I then translate into a piece for a high school reading level audience. We just published this article that looks at Dr. Taichi Suzuki and his work studying the evolution of the gut microbiome and his love for capturing nature. I hope you enjoy!
If you're willing to share your take, how do you feel about the hypothesis that the modern SAD increases the risks of autoimmune conditions/increases systemic inflammation due to increased...
If you're willing to share your take, how do you feel about the hypothesis that the modern SAD increases the risks of autoimmune conditions/increases systemic inflammation due to increased epithelial permeability?
On a separate note, any changes you've made to your own diet, or think would be good for the general population to make, based on what you've learned in your studies?
Any standout papers you recommend on either topic?
GI microbiome is one of my favorite research rabbit holes to dive into, and like you said upstream in the thread, it's crazy how far we've come in the last decade or so. Thanks for sharing!
Admittedly, my dissertation is focusing on sensory ecology so I'm not deep into the literature on gut microbiomes, I mainly follow it as a passing interest. Having said that, I have reduced my...
Admittedly, my dissertation is focusing on sensory ecology so I'm not deep into the literature on gut microbiomes, I mainly follow it as a passing interest. Having said that, I have reduced my carbohydrate intake a bit based on the literature (I was eating a ton of starches, candies, and bread), particularly when it comes to snacks, and now eat a lot of nuts when I am hankering for something light to eat.
Regarding some good papers, I have a stronger interest in gut-brain interactions, so I really enjoyed this review by Horn et al. that covers mental health broadly, and this one by Taniya et al. that dives a bit deeper into the surprising connection between disrupted microbiome signaling and autism.
Well done mate. There's a lot of really interesting work coming out of that field at the moment that goes just beyond biologists just nerding out about biology. I'm a data-nerd at the moment, but...
Well done mate. There's a lot of really interesting work coming out of that field at the moment that goes just beyond biologists just nerding out about biology.
I'm a data-nerd at the moment, but I'm doing a lot of work around psychology in my spare time (and nattering to a lot of Doctor / Psyche folks) and there's some wonderful overlaps with this type of discoveries.
Who'd have thought the guy microbome had so much power?
Thanks! It's been astounding following the gut microbiome field over the past 15 years. So much of our physical and mental well-being is influenced by what's going on in our guts, and seeing the...
Thanks! It's been astounding following the gut microbiome field over the past 15 years. So much of our physical and mental well-being is influenced by what's going on in our guts, and seeing the research that shows how deep the relationship goes is truly mind-blowing.
Makes you wonder and contemplate just how crap our mental health & combined diet must affect our well-being. From an anecdata perspective, not having enough protein feeding that biome absolutely...
Makes you wonder and contemplate just how crap our mental health & combined diet must affect our well-being.
From an anecdata perspective, not having enough protein feeding that biome absolutely knocks me on my ass for my ADHD and mental health. I can't wait to see how much more research gets done into this area.
There's even remarks about how it can help those with traumatic pasts. It's incredible.
I'm enamored of the idea that "I" am a sock-puppet for a myriad of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses that are just forcing me to eat sugars and fats for their delectation. I know there's...
I'm enamored of the idea that "I" am a sock-puppet for a myriad of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses that are just forcing me to eat sugars and fats for their delectation. I know there's been some research on neurotransmitters and neuromodulatory peptides secreted by various gut biota which influence feeding behavior - do you have any particular insight to share on this?
Thank you so much for sharing your presence and time with us!
Sorry for the delay on this response. I've been busy the past few days wrapping up an experiment. One thing to keep in mind is that this is a two-way street - while the microbes that live inside...
Sorry for the delay on this response. I've been busy the past few days wrapping up an experiment.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is a two-way street - while the microbes that live inside of us influence a lot of our decisions, they also get a pretty sweet deal by living in a relatively safe and stable environment. Instead of it being this antagonistic relationship, I like to think of it more that the microbes inside of us are "us" in a sense. We can't live without them, and they travel with us where ever we go.
Regarding your question - we do know that neurotransmitters and peptides are secreted by certain types of microbes. What the implications of these aren't totally clear. For instance, one bacteria in our guts will convert the precursor of L-DOPA into dopamine, but it seems like it is trying to harvest carbon instead of directly signaling to the host. In a nematode, a bacteria makes the precursor to octopamine which gets converted by the host and can induce aversive behaviors to certain odorants. And then we do know that if there is inflammation in the gut that this will produce aversive behaviors to foods.
I'm wrapping up a Ph.D. at Arizona State University and my stipend position has been working for the Ask A Biologist program.
Part of this involves meeting with faculty at ASU to discuss their current research and the journey behind their career, which I then translate into a piece for a high school reading level audience. We just published this article that looks at Dr. Taichi Suzuki and his work studying the evolution of the gut microbiome and his love for capturing nature. I hope you enjoy!
If you're willing to share your take, how do you feel about the hypothesis that the modern SAD increases the risks of autoimmune conditions/increases systemic inflammation due to increased epithelial permeability?
On a separate note, any changes you've made to your own diet, or think would be good for the general population to make, based on what you've learned in your studies?
Any standout papers you recommend on either topic?
GI microbiome is one of my favorite research rabbit holes to dive into, and like you said upstream in the thread, it's crazy how far we've come in the last decade or so. Thanks for sharing!
Admittedly, my dissertation is focusing on sensory ecology so I'm not deep into the literature on gut microbiomes, I mainly follow it as a passing interest. Having said that, I have reduced my carbohydrate intake a bit based on the literature (I was eating a ton of starches, candies, and bread), particularly when it comes to snacks, and now eat a lot of nuts when I am hankering for something light to eat.
Regarding some good papers, I have a stronger interest in gut-brain interactions, so I really enjoyed this review by Horn et al. that covers mental health broadly, and this one by Taniya et al. that dives a bit deeper into the surprising connection between disrupted microbiome signaling and autism.
Well done mate. There's a lot of really interesting work coming out of that field at the moment that goes just beyond biologists just nerding out about biology.
I'm a data-nerd at the moment, but I'm doing a lot of work around psychology in my spare time (and nattering to a lot of Doctor / Psyche folks) and there's some wonderful overlaps with this type of discoveries.
Who'd have thought the guy microbome had so much power?
Thanks! It's been astounding following the gut microbiome field over the past 15 years. So much of our physical and mental well-being is influenced by what's going on in our guts, and seeing the research that shows how deep the relationship goes is truly mind-blowing.
Makes you wonder and contemplate just how crap our mental health & combined diet must affect our well-being.
From an anecdata perspective, not having enough protein feeding that biome absolutely knocks me on my ass for my ADHD and mental health. I can't wait to see how much more research gets done into this area.
There's even remarks about how it can help those with traumatic pasts. It's incredible.
I'm enamored of the idea that "I" am a sock-puppet for a myriad of bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses that are just forcing me to eat sugars and fats for their delectation. I know there's been some research on neurotransmitters and neuromodulatory peptides secreted by various gut biota which influence feeding behavior - do you have any particular insight to share on this?
Thank you so much for sharing your presence and time with us!
Sorry for the delay on this response. I've been busy the past few days wrapping up an experiment.
One thing to keep in mind is that this is a two-way street - while the microbes that live inside of us influence a lot of our decisions, they also get a pretty sweet deal by living in a relatively safe and stable environment. Instead of it being this antagonistic relationship, I like to think of it more that the microbes inside of us are "us" in a sense. We can't live without them, and they travel with us where ever we go.
Regarding your question - we do know that neurotransmitters and peptides are secreted by certain types of microbes. What the implications of these aren't totally clear. For instance, one bacteria in our guts will convert the precursor of L-DOPA into dopamine, but it seems like it is trying to harvest carbon instead of directly signaling to the host. In a nematode, a bacteria makes the precursor to octopamine which gets converted by the host and can induce aversive behaviors to certain odorants. And then we do know that if there is inflammation in the gut that this will produce aversive behaviors to foods.
So it does seem likely there is some influence going on there, but it's still not totally clear. This is a recent review that dives a bit more into the neurotransmitters that are involved in the brain-gut axis.