Researchers have a scientific reason for the value of spending more time outdoors. (Photo by Karen Kelly)
Past research has found that bacteria found in dirt can ease allergic reactions, reduce anxiety, and improve a person’s mood. Now, new research finds the bacteria might make us smarter. Mark Brush reports:
Transcript
Past research has found that bacteria found in dirt can ease allergic reactions, reduce anxiety, and improve a person’s mood. Now, new research finds the bacteria might make us smarter. Mark Brush reports:
Researchers fed mice M. Vaccae bacteria and found the mice were twice as fast at navigating a maze.
Dorothy Matthews is an Associate Professor of Biology at Sage College in Troy, New York. She presented her research at a recent meeting of American Society for Microbiology. She says the bacteria are something we used to be exposed to more. Her comments were posted on the Society’s website:
“For most of our history we were hunter gatherers, rooting around in the soil, following the tracks of animals. It’s only been a hundred years or so ago, that we moved into cities and have become disassociated with nature.”
Researchers have found that M. Vaccae found in dirt can boost serotonin levels in the brains’ of the mice they studied. Serotonin can affect mood, appetite, memory and learning.
For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.