What do we know about the gut's role in depression, and have there been recent major shifts in understanding? | AskScience Blog

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What do we know about the gut's role in depression, and have there been recent major shifts in understanding?

What do we know about the gut's role in depression, and have there been recent major shifts in understanding?


What do we know about the gut's role in depression, and have there been recent major shifts in understanding?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 06:12 PM PDT

See this article:

A team of Ontario researchers says their latest study could help pave the way for different approaches to treating depression.

The study – completed at McMaster University's Brain-Body Institute and published this week in Scientific Reports – concluded a common class of antidepressants works by stimulating activity in the gut and key nerves connected to it rather than the brain as previously believed.

The research focused on Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), a type of antidepressant that's known to benefit patients but whose functioning is little understood by the medical community.

The McMaster researchers spent nearly a year testing SSRIs on mice in a bid to solve the puzzle.

They found that mice taking the medication showed much greater stimulation of neurons in the gut wall, as well as the vagus nerve that connects the gut to the brain. Those benefits disappeared if the vagus nerve was surgically cut.

Study co-author Karen-Anne McVey Neufeld says the findings suggest the gut may play a larger role in depression than previously believed and the latest research hints at new treatment possibilities in the future.

Edit: See the scientific paper here.

submitted by /u/FunUniverse1778
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Does silver turn instantly black when exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 09:16 AM PDT

I was watching an animated show and in the show they show silver turning black instantly when exposed with hydrogen sulfide gas, I tried looking for a video on youtube to see how this would look like in real life but I couldn't find one.

submitted by /u/TheWatermelonGuy
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Can gravitation be considered as a dual property of attractive force between masses and distortion of space time,similar to electron's wave- particle duality?

Posted: 06 Oct 2019 06:56 AM PDT

Gravity as a force of attraction explains physical phenomena on smaller celestial bodies like Earth, while gravity is considered as a curvature of space-time to explain phenomena near gigantic, dense entities like stars,neutron stars, black holes analogous to wave-particle duality of electron.

submitted by /u/Imma_not_a_bot
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Since different colour pigments are created by using different elements/minerals, does different hair colours have different chemical composition?

Posted: 06 Oct 2019 01:03 AM PDT

How were Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis separate species?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:43 PM PDT

Recently, I was discussing the two with a friend, when the question came up: how could they have been separate species if they could reproduce and create viable offspring? I'm aware of the physical differences between the two, but wouldn't they be the same species if they could reproduce?

submitted by /u/justalongbowguy
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How exactly did we find out about Earth’s internal layers if we never dug that deep?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:19 PM PDT

The crust, mantle, and core.

submitted by /u/Nightfall90z
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Why does the South/Central America region have so many stimulant bearing plants?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 09:52 AM PDT

So cocaine, coffee, cacao, tobacco, Yerba Mate and Guarana are all stimulant bearing plants and all native to South America.

Meanwhile Africa and Eurasia has betel nut and tea plants (I might be missing a few?)

What evolutionary pressure lead to that concentration of similar molecules in that region?

submitted by /u/Budobudo
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Why does the c in e = mc^2 equal the speed of light?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:12 PM PDT

I've been thinking about it for a while and I can't seem to figure it out. Why does the speed of light have anything to do with this equation. Ofc it's not a coincidence and I just don't understand how mass and energy have anything todo with the speed of light.

submitted by /u/DeadExWife
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Light travels faster in vacuum than through air, so is there a material that could slow light down in a way that we could see it traveling?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 12:18 PM PDT

So light travels at 299,792 kilometers per second through vacuum and at ~200,000 kilometers per second through air. That's almost 100,000 kmps slower, what's the slowest that light can travel through a material and what material?

submitted by /u/Maurotto
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With which species do we share the least amount of genes with?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:27 AM PDT

EDIT: Thank you everyone for your answers, I appreciate the details but I was also wondering where do plants come to play when it comes to comparing gene similarity?

submitted by /u/snoopySuzie
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Is tobacco smoke uniquely carcinogenic, or only so dangerous due to nicotine's addictiveness?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 09:48 AM PDT

I feel like I stumble onto a lot of debate on the topic of the dangers of nicotine, cigarettes, and how they compare to the risks of cannabis smoking.

The common consensus is that cigarettes are far more likely to give you cancer. But is this true, and why? Does smoke from tobacco contain more carcinogens than smoke from cannabis? Or is the increase in danger due to nicotine's higher addictive potential, resulting in the average cigarette smoker inhaling far more smoke than the average cannabis smoker?

submitted by /u/Tyrannosaurus_Alan
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Does forward trajectory/momentum decrease the vertical impact on a drop?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 06:12 PM PDT

The context to this question is watching skateboarders drop down huge flights of stairs. I feel if they were dropping straight down, then their landings would be much more violent. I'm not good with dynamics and couldn't think of the math to prove this one way or another.

submitted by /u/Yawn_Rape
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Does higher brain plasticity also mean that you loose neural connections faster?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 02:51 PM PDT

How are gorillas so big and strong on a vegetarian diet?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 01:06 PM PDT

Obviously the general idea is that gorillas are genetically built to be massive and muscular. But it blows me away just how ripped they are. They dwarf other primates. I was just thinking how it's funny how those beasts are herbivores and now I'm wondering how they actually get so big off of an all-plant diet

submitted by /u/HighlighterTed
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What do water vapor particles look like on a microscopic level when they are floating in the air after a hot shower?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:40 PM PDT

I've always wondered what shape or shapes they are in, they look kind of like spheres but it's so hard to get close to a single one and focus on it. There's no way I can put one in my microscope either. Has anyone figured this out?

submitted by /u/totallyrandomguy69
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Why do rainbows form in such specific halfcircular shapes?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 09:03 AM PDT

Why does electrical conductivity increase in a partial vacuum but then drop way off as the vacuum approaches perfect?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 10:41 AM PDT

Would planting trees/vegetation in hot environments (deserts) increase the humidity in that area?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 02:07 PM PDT

I lived in the UAE and I noticed that areas that used to be dry when I was young became more humid. There was also an increase in green vegetation in the form of grass and trees in a lot of the areas where I noticed this change.

Would the heat cause the plants to lose moisture only to have it stay in the air as humidity?

submitted by /u/teh_fizz
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How does oxygen affect the environment? Is there any way is does other than keeps things alive through breathing ?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 07:08 PM PDT

Why does the earliest sunset of the year appear ~10 days before the winter solstice itself?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 09:56 AM PDT

How do magnetic fields and electric currents interact?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 02:24 PM PDT

Electromagnetism (mag field, force, current)

Can someone please try to explain the interaction between a magnetic field and an electric current.

A ferromagnetic field is essentially unpaired electrons aligning with the same spin, which minimizes it's energy. An electric current is the flow of charge from a high to low "concentration".

But how do these two concepts interact? I'm iffy on the right hand rules and the conceptual reasoning behind them. What is happening in a magnetic field that causes a current to flow (counter-clockwise if the magnetic field is flowing toward you)? Why does a current cause a magnetic field?

I've read a few sites and saw some videos but still. Thanks a bunch. Also not homework. I'm not in school right now

submitted by /u/Content-Creature
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If sunlight provides energy for plants to grow, does that mean that Earth is continually getting heavier and getting more material?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 05:56 PM PDT

How can microwaves heat food through an opaque ceramic lid, but they don't come out through the oven's viewing window and cook my face?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 08:50 AM PDT

I know the general concept of how microwaves actually heat food (making water molecules jiggle) but I don't understand how they can penetrate some materials and not others.

submitted by /u/Its_Claude
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If spirals are so common throughout the universe, why does the universe itself not seem to spiral?

Posted: 05 Oct 2019 04:39 PM PDT

Hey Reddit, This question kinda comes from nowhere in my brain, but why does the universe itself not spin in a spiral? Why does it simply expand outwards? With spirals being as common as they are, what prevents the universe from following this pattern?

submitted by /u/NerdMouse
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