The E. coli made me do it.

Or that’s how the New Yorker so elegantly puts it.

So how would you react if we told you that bacterial cells outweighed body cells 10 to 1?

Or better yet, that NPR has made one of the most adorable videos EVER describing the Human Microbiome. The background science, however, is only the start of a huge landslide of theories and research that surrounds microbes.

The most recent development? The bacteria that reside in your stomach/intestines might have a huge impact on our mental development, emotional health, and physical wellness.

Our bodies are complex ecosystems evolved from years and years of symbiosis.  The type of bacteria housed in your guts can effect your brain chemistry – outgoing mice became more twitchy when they were transferred microbes from their more anxious peers.

But how can bacteria in your stomach communicate with the great and all-knowing brain?

Simple answer: The Vagus Nerve 

Complex answer? It’s a nerve that extends down from your  brain to stomach. When the nerve was cut in mice, the brain no longer responded to changes in the gut.

 This has been greeted with a lot of hope in the scientific community, mimicking signals from the guts or using probiotics to replace lost microbes could possibly help alleviate the symptoms associated with depression and bipolar disorder.

We don’t know about you guys, but we’re definitely not as germophobic as we used to be.