Not feeling so smart? Could be an algae virus.
Recent research has found that a virus, ATCV-1, can affect certain cognitive functions in humans. The virus is normally found in green algae, however it can live in the throats of humans. Previously, it was unknown that the virus affected humans in any way.
In this study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 92 healthy participants were given various cognitive assessments and had their throats swabbed. Forty of them were found to have the virus. When comparing the test results, the researchers found that those infected with the ATCV-1 performed about 10% worse on tasks measuring the speed and accuracy of visual processing. These tasks included things like drawing a line to connect numbers randomly placed on a page. If you have the virus, you might not be so good at video games or connect-the-dots; but it probably won’t affect your scores in other tasks, like writing or doing calculus.
The results were not associated with any demographic differences, such as race, sex, age, place of birth, or education level. In fact, the virus itself may not be the cause of the impairment; it may just benefit from other things, such as heavy metals or pollutants, that affect some people’s brains.
The researchers also tested the effects of the virus in mice. They injected some mice with the virus, and then put them through several tests. Mice with the virus moved as well as other mice but showed decline in recognition, spatial skills, and attention span. For example, they took longer to navigate a maze, and spent less time examining a new object than new mice.
The researchers say, “The similarity of our findings in mice and humans underscores the common mechanisms that many microbes use to affect cognitive function in both animals and people.” Their findings open up new avenues of research into human health, and help us delve ever deeper into the mysterious world of the microbes which live around and in us.
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