这个话题我从前几年就开始有一搭没一搭地追着，因为实在太颠覆，但是证据又实在太有说服力了。
现在研究这个东西的神经学家越来越多了！数据证据也越来越多了！注意并不是我们自己的肠子干涉我们自己的脑，而是肠子里的细菌群干涉我们的脑！今天 Nature 杂志的新闻栏报道了最近的研究成果，发现 gut microbiome 跟自闭症和抑郁症有直接的联系。这样看来自闭症的频率飞涨，跟这些年破腹产飞涨及饮食结构变化是否有关呢？我看了得意地一拍桌子，这个研究方向果然是对的，大大的有料啊。
原文如下：
http://www.nature.com/news/gut-brain-li ... ts-1.16316
大脑和免疫系统尤其是 inflammatory process 也是一个非常重要的环节，现在仍然两眼一擦黑。Although correlations have been noted between the composition of the gut microbiome and behavioural conditions, especially autism1, neuroscientists are only now starting to understand how gut bacteria may influence the brain. The immune system almost certainly plays a part, Mazmanian says, as does the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to the digestive tract. Bacterial waste products can also influence the brain — for example, at least two types of intestinal bacterium produce the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)2.
The microbiome is likely to have its greatest impact on the brain early in life, says pharmacologist John Cryan at University College Cork in Ireland. In a study to be presented at the neuroscience meeting, his group found that mice born by caesarean section, which hosted different microbes from mice born vaginally, were significantly more anxious and had symptoms of depression. The animals’ inability to pick up their mothers’ vaginal microbes during birth — the first bacteria that they would normally encounter — may cause lifelong changes in mental health, he says.
总之就是，什么是“我”？这个问题还真不好回答。
