Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Tummy Bacteria and Office Design
Not many years ago, discussing the bacteria in users’ guts and office design together would have seemed absurd. As scientists research the ways that gut bacteria affect how people think and behave, a gut bacteria/design conversation now seems more inevitable than laughable. Weir writes about how the bacteria in people’s guts are influencing their lives – and her comments don’t relate to indigestion or heartburn. As she reports: “In the past several years, researchers have compiled convincing evidence that suggests the gut and its resident microorganisms influence mental health and cognition…Researchers have described an important ‘second brain’ in the gut, a complex network of neurons and neurotransmitters known as the enteric nervous system.” Researchers have found, for example, “that compared with controls, the participants [in one study] who took the probiotic had lower levels of cortisol and self-reported anxiety during a stress test…In addition, they reported less daily stress and …
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