News in Brief Neuroscience

Wiping out gut bacteria impairs brain

Nerve cell production, memory affected in mice treated with antibiotics

antibiotic

TO THE TOP  Antibiotics (one shown) that target microbes in the gut influence what goes on in the brain, too, a mouse study suggests. 

Thirteen Of Clubs/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) 

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

Obliterating bacteria in the gut may hurt the brain, too.

In mice, a long course of antibiotics that wiped out gut bacteria slowed the birth of new brain cells and impaired memory, scientists write May 19 in Cell Reports.