Do critters in our "guts" influence our creativity?

Everyone's innards contain at least six pounds of bacteria--which is equal to the size of a brain. This according to a story by Dr. Francis Collins, in Government Executive Magazine, Jan 27, 2014.

These organisms developed along with the fetus, to a baby, to a child...etc. They aid digestion and immunity, among other functions.

Dr. Elaine Hsaio, though an award from the National Institutes of Health, is tracing how gut bacteria may control your mind.

One bacterium sends messages that link the gut to your mind through the vagus nerve. Another shapes the immune system.

Working with mice, she has shown many links between mother and developing baby. Maternal infections can affect brain development, for example.

She has even shown that when mice display autistic tendencies but are given probiotics, those tendencies can disappear.

I wonder what magic bugs this young woman has in her insides. Pretty creative. Maybe she will come up with a painting bacterium or an inventing germ.

All down in our "tummy" brain!