The community of microbes that live in the gut known as the gut microbiome may have fueled the evolution of humans huge brains a new study suggests.

Microbiome research has begun to show us exactly how the gut and the brain communicate to influence behavior and overall wellbeing said study co- author Katherine Amato an associate professor of biological anthropology at Northwestern University in Chicago.

The study found that human gut microbes converted food into energy for the brain more efficiently. However the study was done in mice and requires several leaps to extrapolate what happened millions of years ago when our brains were evolving Amato acknowledged.

Over the years a plethora of studies have demonstrated how the gut microbiome impacts human health and disease including our metabolism. Gut microbes play a key role in breaking down the food that we eat and thus releasing energy from it. Changes in the composition of the gut microbiome meaning the ratios of different microbes have also been tied to the development of obesity and related conditions.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/health/mind/gut-microbiome-may-have-fueled-the-growth-of-humans-big-brains-study-suggests