Did you know that applying non-invasive, low-intensity light to your head and belly can simultaneously reduce the effects of chronic stress on the gut microbiome and brain? A new study says yes.
This research, by researchers at the University of Barcelona (UB) (Spain), adds to growing evidence linking both organs, explains the New Atlas.
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What do you mean, non-invasive light to cure stress?
- Photobiomodulation (PBM) is a non-invasive technique that uses low-intensity light from lasers, or LEDs, to produce a therapeutic effect;
- It has been used to treat medical issues ranging from wounds to heart disease;
- Transcranial PBM, used on the head, has shown promise for treating psychological disorders.
Connection between brain and intestine
There is a lot of current research that connects the gut and the brain. They discovered a direct communication pathway between two organs associated with depression, autism and Parkinson’s disease.
In the new study, published in Journal of Affective DisordersSpanish researchers applied PBM simultaneously to the head and intestine of male rats to analyze whether manipulating the gut-brain axis had a positive effect on chronic stress.
This is one of the study’s most innovative scientific contributions: co-stimulating, in coordination, the brain and the intestine at the same time, that is, the gut-brain axis. Today, the area of research into the gut-brain axis generates great scientific interest and is a very promising field for the possible treatment of diseases of the nervous system.
Albert Giralt of the UB Neuroscience Institute and the UB Neuroscience Institute and co-corresponding author of the study
Male rats received PBM from a device manufactured by the French medical technology company REGEnLIFE.
It consists of a modular helmet and abdominal panel composed of low-level infrared lasers, near-infrared and red LEDs, and a static magnetic field. The French company has already tested its device in clinical trials with Alzheimer’s.
Chronic stress was induced in mice via stressors applied randomly and daily for 28 days. The animals were treated with PBM for six minutes, from Monday to Friday, for three weeks.
At the cell level, brain inflammation was reduced. In the intestinal microbiome, researchers discovered that PBM corrects levels of certain bacteria altered by stress.
The researchers therefore concluded that brain-gut PBM could have a synergistic beneficial effect on stress-induced changes in these organs.
One of the study authors reported being an employee of REGEnLIFE and having a shareholding in the company, while another is a consultant for the company. Still, the Frenchwoman did not finance the study.
