In our never-ending quest for happiness, it sometimes doesn’t occur to us that what we’re searching for may be as close as our own bodies. And now, a new study shows that it’s possible the answer to our search may begin with the bacteria in our bellies. According to Science News:
“Mice fed broth fortified with a type of friendly intestinal bacteria called Lactobacillus rhamnosus behaved less anxiously than mice fed broth without bacteria. Those behavior changes were accompanied by differences in levels of a brain-chemical sensor and stress hormones.
The bacteria telegraph these brain-chemical and behavior-changing messages via the vagus nerve, which connects the brain stem to various internal organs, researchers report online August 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”