Author: Stasia Butler

I'm an undergraduate Biology student at University of Alaska Fairbanks. I am interested in Evolution and aspire to do research in this field. Field work that enables traveling is my career goal, however I also enjoy my time in the lab. I am interested in encompassing as many scientific disciplines as possible in developing my understanding of the world and life from quarks to animal behavior.
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Does your gut control your brain?

When studying mental illness, the brain has long been the focal organ of interest. Psychiatry and neurobiology examine communication from the brain and how its chemical imbalance produces central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as depression and anxiety. However, microbiology presents a new avenue of inquiry that is looking from the opposite direction: how is communication to the brain affecting mental health? This is a provocative question under investigation through recent studies of the microbiota of our gut. Continue reading “Does your gut control your brain?”