If I were the head of a funding agency devoted to looking into the effects of microbes on human health, I would be most excited to support research proposals that were dedicated to understanding the relationship between microbes and mental illness. For me, there is nothing more unfortunate, disquieting, or otherwise depressing than watching somebody slowly lose there mind, or having a fractured grip on reality result in somebody hurting themselves or others.
With that said, if research into microbes could shed even a little light on what is now a vastly mysterious subject, there’s a good chance it would be worth the money. Fortunately, there are already studies looking into the brain-gut axis and doing their best to piece this puzzle together. Perhaps, in the future, research programs such as these could nail down a concrete link between microbiota and subsequent adjustments in brain chemistry, and begin to address how to use that relationship in both preventive (and possibly even curative) treatment. now THAT is something I would love to see.
