Why don't you want to go to sports? New research from Nature tells you that this is because of the lack of this gut bacteria

According to a study conducted in mice by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, some gut bacteria can activate intestinal nerves and promote the desire
to exercise.
The study, published today in the journal Nature, sheds light on the gut-to-brain pathway and explains why some bacteria improve athletic performance
.

In this study, the researchers found that in a large group of lab mice, the difference in running performance was largely due to the presence of certain gut bacteria
in the better-performing animals.
The researchers traced this effect to small molecules of metabolites produced by bacteria, which stimulate sensory nerves in the gut to enhance activity in brain regions that control motivation during exercise
.

Dr Christoph Thaiss, senior author of the study and assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, said: "If we can confirm that similar pathways exist in humans, we can provide an effective way to increase people's exercise levels and thus improve public health
in general.
"

Thaiss and his colleagues conducted the study to look broadly at the factors
that determine athletic performance.
They recorded genome sequences, gut bacterial species, blood metabolites, and other data
from genetically diverse mice.
They then measured the animals' daily autonomous running wheels, as well as their endurance
.

The researchers analyzed the data using machine learning to look for attributes in mice to best account for the large individual differences
in animal running performance.
They were surprised to find that genes seemed to account for only a small fraction of these performance differences, while differences in gut bacterial populations seemed to be more important
.
In fact, they observed that giving mice broad-spectrum antibiotics to clear gut bacteria reduced their running performance by about
half.

Finally, over the course of years of scientific probing work, researchers in more than a dozen independent labs at the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere discovered that two bacteria strongly associated with better performance: Eubacterium rectale and Coprococcus eutactus (Sterucoccus), produced metabolites
known as fatty acid amides (FAAs).
The latter stimulates receptors on sensory nerves in the intestine known as CB1 endocannabinoid receptors, which connect to the brain
through the spine.
During exercise, these nerves full of CB1 receptors are stimulated, leading to increased
levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the ventral striatal region of the brain.

The striatum is a key node
in the brain's reward and motivation network.
The researchers concluded that extra dopamine in this area during exercise improves performance
by enhancing the desire to exercise.

J.
Nicholas Betley, Ph.
D.
, associate professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, co-author of the study, said, "This motivational pathway from the gut to the brain may have evolved to link
nutrient availability and gut bacterial population status to long-term physical activity.
" "This direction of research may develop into a completely new branch
of exercise physiology.
"

These discoveries have opened up many new avenues
for scientific research.
For example, evidence from experiments suggests that better-performing mice experience a stronger "runner's pleasure" — in this case, reduced pain sensitivity — suggesting that this well-known phenomenon is at least partly controlled
by gut bacteria.
The team now plans further studies to confirm that this pathway
from the gut to the brain exists in humans.

In addition to potentially providing cheap, safe, diet-based methods for ordinary people to run and optimize the performance of elite athletes, he added, exploring this pathway could also lead to simpler ways to alter motivation and mood
in situations such as addiction and depression.