Many things affect the growth of bacteria. Many things affect what kind of bacteria grow. Some of these things are pH, temperature, the type of nutrients. The immune system can also determine which bacteria survive in our bodies, if the immune system attacks and kills a certain type of bacteria, then it cannot survive (unless we are very weakened). If the immune system does not react against a type of bacteria, then that type can grow. Same goes for fungi and viruses as well. All the friendly bacteria in our gut, like Lactobacillus or Enterobacter (which synthesizes Vitamin K for us) are not attacked by our immune system and live in symbiosis (mutual benefit) in our gut.
Illness can change what bacteria live in our bodies by changing the above things I mentioned. How is it that the type of bacteria living in the throats of people who have schizophrenia is different from controls (those who do not have schizophrenia)? Is is related to the onset or continuity of the illness or is it simply incidental? Even if it is incidental, at the very least, it may be useful in the diagnosis of this illness, which is very complex and very difficult to treat.
Could it be that the different microbiome in people with schizophrenia can affect the gut neuronal tissue and alter the types or amounts of neurotransmitters produced and this then affects the brain neuronal tissue and then is involved in generation of disease? The immune system is also in intimate contact with the gut, in fact a part of the immune system is called Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue or GALT. The gut associated neurons aka the gut brain or gut nervous system line the cells of the gut. The immune system, and neuronal tissue come into intimate contact in the gut, exactly where there are trillions of bacteria living, in the gut. So much is happening in the gut. The importance of GALT, the gut nervous system, the microbiome, and the gut itself cannot be overlooked. It’s a puzzle, but a puzzle whose pieces are slowly coming together to form a picture. Let’s see what the picture will show us.
Oh my god! Could it be that simple? Fix the microbiomes of patients and they’ll be cured of schizophrenia? No, I doubt it, but still this is a phenomenal discovery! That the throat microbiomes of schizophrenia patients and people who don’t have schizophrenia (controls) are significantly different. The microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in our bodies with us. Once again this brings the immune system into the picture, and as I posted in my very last post, it also brings the gut nervous system (aka gut brain) and gut immune system into play. Why are different bacteria, fungi, viruses growing in the throats of people who have schizophrenia? Is their immune system different? If so, why is their immune system different? How is it different? Are the bacteria in the gut also different since the throat all the way to the anus is about 9 feet of the alimentary canal. If the microbiome is different, what affect is it having on the gut nervous system and also ultimately on the brain, also known as the central nervous system? Phenomenal discovery! Also shows how interconnected everything is! Studying the brain or the gut or the immune system in isolation is all well and good, but we have to study relationships within these systems and how they affect one another and us. Also a very important question for me: Is this also the case for people who have bipolar d/o? Do we also have microbiomes that are different from control individuals? And again, all the questions I asked above apply in this case too.
“Recent studies have shown that microbiomes—the communities of microbes living within our bodies—can affect the immune system and may be connected to mental health.
Research linking immune disorders and schizophrenia has also been published, and this study furthers the possibility that shifts in oral communities are associated with schizophrenia.
Mr. Castro-Nallar’s research sought to identify microbes associated with schizophrenia, as well as components that may be associated with or contribute to changes in the immune state of the person. In this study, the group found a significant difference in the microbiomes of healthy and schizophrenic patients.
“Our results suggesting a link between microbiome diversity and schizophrenia require replication and expansion to a broader number of individuals for further validation,” said Keith Crandall, director of the CBI and contributing author of the study. “But the results are quite intriguing and suggest potential applications of biomarkers for diagnosis of schizophrenia and important metabolic pathways associated with the disease.”
The study helps to identify possible contributing factors to schizophrenia. With additional studies, researchers may be able to determine if microbiome changes are a contributing factor to schizophrenia, are a result of schizophrenia or do not have a connection to the disorder.
There are a 100 billion neurons, on average, in the human brain, the one in our skulls. There are an additional 100 million neurons in out guts, this is called the enteric nervous system. The butterflies in our stomach? Yes, generated here. Gut feelings? Yes generated in the enteric nervous system! Why do we have 100 million neurons embedded in the walls of our gut? Well one function, perhaps the primary function is digestion and excretion of food. However, there is more, these neurons also produce Serotonin, in fact they produce the majority of Serotonin in the body. They also produce 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain in our heads. So, as neurotransmitters are the communication molecules between neurons, also between neurons and other cells, there is communication going on between the enteric brain and the main brain. A large part of our emotions are most likely influenced by this enteric brain! Most of the nerve impulses generated in the vagus nerve are headed towards the brain in our heads, that means there is a lot of information going from the gut to our brain! The enteric brain also exists to deal with the trillions of gut bacteria that reside in the gut! The gut has been implicated in Autism, osteoporosis, perhaps depression and mood disorders as well, as the large production of Serotonin points to. There is already a field called psychoneuroimmunology, which looks at the relationship of neurons, immune systems, and our psychological state. Now we can add gastroenterology to that!
The emerging and surprising view of how the enteric nervous system in our bellies goes far beyond just processing the food we eat
As Olympians go for the gold in Vancouver, even the steeliest are likely to experience that familiar feeling of “butterflies” in the stomach. Underlying this sensation is an often-overlooked network of neurons lining our guts that is so extensive some scientists have nicknamed it our “second brain”.
A deeper understanding of this mass of neural tissue, filled with important neurotransmitters, is revealing that it does much more than merely handle digestion or inflict the occasional nervous pang. The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body.
Although its influence is far-reaching, the second brain is not the seat of any conscious thoughts or decision-making.
“The second brain doesn’t help with the great thought processes…religion, philosophy and poetry is left to the brain in the head,” says Michael Gershon, chairman of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, an expert in the nascent field of neurogastroenterology and author of the 1998 book The Second Brain(HarperCollins).
Technically known as the enteric nervous system, the second brain consists of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the long tube of our gut, or alimentary canal, which measures about nine meters end to end from the esophagus to the anus. The second brain contains some 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system, Gershon says.
This multitude of neurons in the enteric nervous system enables us to “feel” the inner world of our gut and its contents. Much of this neural firepower comes to bear in the elaborate daily grind of digestion. Breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and expelling of waste requires chemical processing, mechanical mixing and rhythmic muscle contractions that move everything on down the line.
Thus equipped with its own reflexes and senses, the second brain can control gut behavior independently of the brain, Gershon says. We likely evolved this intricate web of nerves to perform digestion and excretion “on site,” rather than remotely from our brains through the middleman of the spinal cord. “The brain in the head doesn’t need to get its hands dirty with the messy business of digestion, which is delegated to the brain in the gut,” Gershon says. He and other researchers explain, however, that the second brain’s complexity likely cannot be interpreted through this process alone.
“The system is way too complicated to have evolved only to make sure things move out of your colon,” says Emeran Mayer, professor of physiology, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (U.C.L.A.). For example, scientists were shocked to learn that about 90 percent of the fibers in the primary visceral nerve, the vagus, carry information from the gut to the brain and not the other way around. “Some of that info is decidedly unpleasant,” Gershon says.
The second brain informs our state of mind in other more obscure ways, as well. “A big part of our emotions are probably influenced by the nerves in our gut,” Mayer says. Butterflies in the stomach—signaling in the gut as part of our physiological stress response, Gershon says—is but one example. Although gastrointestinal (GI) turmoil can sour one’s moods, everyday emotional well-being may rely on messages from the brain below to the brain above. For example, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve—a useful treatment for depression—may mimic these signals, Gershon says.
Given the two brains’ commonalities, other depression treatments that target the mind can unintentionally impact the gut. The enteric nervous system uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, just like the brain, and in fact 95 percent of the body’s serotonin is found in the bowels. Because antidepressant medications called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase serotonin levels, it’s little wonder that meds meant to cause chemical changes in the mind often provoke GI issues as a side effect. Irritable bowel syndrome—which afflicts more than two million Americans—also arises in part from too much serotonin in our entrails, and could perhaps be regarded as a “mental illness” of the second brain.
Scientists are learning that the serotonin made by the enteric nervous system might also play a role in more surprising diseases: In a new Nature Medicinestudy published online February 7, a drug that inhibited the release of serotonin from the gut counteracted the bone-deteriorating disease osteoporosis in postmenopausal rodents. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) “It was totally unexpected that the gut would regulate bone mass to the extent that one could use this regulation to cure—at least in rodents—osteoporosis,” says Gerard Karsenty, lead author of the study and chair of the Department of Genetics and Development at Columbia University Medical Center.
Serotonin seeping from the second brain might even play some part in autism, the developmental disorder often first noticed in early childhood. Gershon has discovered that the same genes involved in synapse formation between neurons in the brain are involved in the alimentary synapse formation. “If these genes are affected in autism,” he says, “it could explain why so many kids with autism have GI motor abnormalities” in addition to elevated levels of gut-produced serotonin in their blood.
Down the road, the blossoming field of neurogastroenterology will likely offer some new insight into the workings of the second brain—and its impact on the body and mind. “We have never systematically looked at [the enteric nervous system] in relating lesions in it to diseases like they have for the” central nervous system, Gershon says. One day, perhaps there will be well-known connections between diseases and lesions in the gut’s nervous system as some in the brain and spinal cord today indicate multiple sclerosis.
Cutting-edge research is currently investigating how the second brain mediates the body’s immune response; after all, at least 70 percent of our immune system is aimed at the gut to expel and kill foreign invaders.
U.C.L.A.’s Mayer is doing work on how the trillions of bacteria in the gut “communicate” with enteric nervous system cells (which they greatly outnumber). His work with the gut’s nervous system has led him to think that in coming years psychiatry will need to expand to treat the second brain in addition to the one atop the shoulders.
So for those physically skilled and mentally strong enough to compete in the Olympic Games—as well as those watching at home—it may well behoove us all to pay more heed to our so-called “gut feelings” in the future.
It was a wonderful vacation, a perfect vacation. Nine out of ten beach days! The best part was to have my son with us, he is so sweet and funny and intelligent! It is just a pleasure to be with him. It was also wonderful for me because I didn’t have to worry about him. I worry about him much too much. The beginnings of an anxiety disorder? I don’t know. What I do know is that he is fine, but I still worry about him and of course I miss him a lot. I know all about how children have to separate from their parents to individuate and grow up. I’m not sure I quite buy it though, I think families are meant to stay together, not in the same house, but close by, perhaps in the same town, so they can stay in touch and be there for each other if the need arises. But the American culture is all about individuality, about the nuclear family and not the extended family. It’s about individual rights. It separates us instead of bringing us together. As a mother, there is nothing that makes me happier than to be with my son and know that he is happy, healthy, well loved and living a productive, self sufficient life. That is what I wish for all my friends and family and their children as well.
Yes, our vacation was wonderful, so coming back has been difficult. Yes, I am dealing with emotions, the downfall for those of us who have mood disorders. Separation from my son and the ensuing anxiety are definitely triggers that plunge me into an anxious, depressed phase. Other triggers can make my adrenaline spike and possibly contribute to an angry, manicky response. Yes, I have to start my “Choosing to do Something Different” course with Pema Chödrön again. It was truly helping me when I was reading a section daily. It’s really a matter of use it or lose it. Must keep at it, must keep practicing. I will start again tonight and start posting about it again.
Also one of my triggers which is really simple to avoid is hunger. Yes I said hunger. When I am hungry, my anxiety can get to pretty high levels pretty quickly. For example in a well fed state (haha) I might find someone like Donald Trump (ugh) mildly annoying. But expose me to this annoying boor in a hungry state and I will react much more strongly, maybe even call him a gargantuan fool… which he might be… but what’s important here is my reaction to something, not the something. My reaction, that is what I am trying to control with Pema Chödrön’s course. Of course I won’t stop just with that course, I will read, follow, meditate, use other techniques as well.
I’m back. My son’s fine. I’m controlling my emotions. Hurrah!
Basically, when the synaptic transmission between the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex is disrupted, symptoms of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia are seen. This has been known for a long time. What wasn’t known was how is this communication between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex disrupted? That is, what are the mechanisms responsible for the disruption of communication between these two regions of the brain? Well, in this paper below, they show over activation of the D2-like Dopamine receptors leads to a decrease in another type of receptor called the NMDA receptor. This leads to a marked disruption of synaptic transmission between the two brain regions. This newly discovered relationship between the Dopamine and NMDA receptors may lead to treatment options for people with mental illnesses like schizophrenia.
“Synaptic transmission between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex is required for many executive cognitive functions. It is believed that disruption of this communication contributes to symptoms observed in psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Hyperdopaminergic tone and hypofunction of NMDA receptor-mediated glutamate transmission are distinctive elements of schizophrenia. Here we demonstrate that activation of low-affinity D2-like dopamine receptors leads to a lasting depression of NMDA receptors at the hippocampal– prefrontal projection of juvenile rats, leading to a marked disruption of synaptic transmission. These data demonstrate a link between dopamine and hypofunction of NMDA receptormediated transmission with potential implications for psychiatric disease.”
“New research has identified the mechanisms that trigger disruption in the brain’s communication channels linked to symptoms in psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. The University of Bristol study, published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, could have important implications for treating symptoms of brain disorders.
Many of our everyday cognitive functions such as learning and memory rely on normal communication between the two regions of the brain – the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. While previous studies have identified disruption to communication channels in these two areas of the brain contribute to symptoms in psychiatric disorders, the mechanisms that lead to these disturbances have been largely unknown, until now.
In this study, led by Professor Zafar Bashir from Bristol’s School of Physiology and Pharmacology, the researchers studied the neurotransmitters glutamate and dopamine, which work together in controlling normal transmission between these brain regions by communicating chemical information throughout our brain and are disrupted in schizophrenics.
The team found that subtle changes in the interplay of these transmitters completely altered the flow of information from the hippocampus to prefrontal cortex. Over-activation of the D2 class of dopamine receptors led to suppression of the function of NMDA receptors, which are activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate, at the synaptic connection between hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. This in turn leads to a marked disruption of communication between these brain regions.
Dr Paul Banks, one of the researchers, said: “Our findings demonstrate a mechanism for how dopamine neurotransmission can influence NMDA receptor function at a connection in the brain needed for complex mental tasks which are disrupted in schizophrenic patients. It has been known for some time that dopamine and NMDA receptor function are altered in schizophrenic patients – our data mirror the direction of these changes and therefore might give insight into how these changes come about mechanistically.”
The peacock’s voice is melancholy, its feet are unlovely, but its plumage, its plumage is miraculous! I was just thinking that we can be unlovely and sorrowful as the peacock’s feet and voice when we live in anxiety, fear, and negativity. But when we act from love, and caring, and warmth, we are as miraculous and beautiful as the plumage of the peacock. Our actions and intentions are as miraculous as the peacock dancing with its feathers spread out in all their glory. I am attaching a video of a peacock dancing, it really is a miracle of nature. So are we. I intend to keep this image in mind as I leave anxiety and fear behind and embrace the love and beauty I know live in me. I know they live in all of us.
To all my friends and family, love and beauty and peace.
Well my blog reached more than 10,000 views in a year, sometimes yesterday it seems. That means my blog posts have been seen over 10,000 times! I’d been keeping an eye on the number, waiting till it reached 10,000. It’s a pretty amazing milestone and I have a big smile on my face as I type this :-)))
For people like us, with mood disorders, managing our moods is paramount. Not being dragged to the ends of the earth by our moods is paramount. Zen Buddhism is a good tool for us, a powerful tool for us, to manage our unruly emotions. What Pema Chodron is teaching is a powerful tool for us. Our medications are the most powerful, but meditation, relaxation, the tenets of Buddhism, the not allowing yourself to be hooked, these in conjunction with our meds can help us live less emotional, more sane lives.
I am absolutely not trying to be a drama queen, this really happened! I was driving to the airport yesterday, in Buffalo, to get my flight back to Louisville. They have rotaries there now, and when I got to the rotary from Aero Drive to Holtz Drive, I was going to go to the right, around the circle when I saw a UPS 18 wheeler driving around the rotary from my left, he was exiting on to Holtz as I was entering. At the last minute he decided to come the same way as I was going, I mean come into the circle where I was. I don’t know how he didn’t hit me. I was driving a Nissan with not much pickup, I sped up as much as I could and somehow avoided being hit. After that happened, of course, I was a bit shocked. The radio was playing, the sun was shining, the amazing clouds were scudding about, and seconds ago, I was almost in an accident which I seriously don’t think I would have survived!
My first thought was, would my son know how much I loved him if I was gone? Thankfully, the answer was yes. Secondly, I went down the list of everyone I love and with whom I am friends, would they know how much I loved them? Have I apologized for any transgressions against anyone? Again the answer was Yes!
I am so happy to be here, and also to realize that if I had not survived in that moment, I could have gone knowing all my loved ones knew I loved them and I’d tried to make amends where I had erred.
Is this the way we should live life? Perhaps. It may not be such a bad way to live, always making sure people you love knew it, and whether inadvertently, or not, if you upset anyone, making amends for it.
Palestine WILL Be Free 