Consuming lactic acid bacteria may help fight depression and increase production of chemicals that help control emotions, a researcher at Taipei’s National Yang-Ming University said.
Tsai Ying-chieh (蔡英傑), director of the university’s Probiotics Research Center and chairman of the Taiwan Association for Lactic Acid Bacteria, said that his research found that a strain called PS128 helped improve negative emotions in mice during laboratory tests.
The finding is the result of three years of experiments funded by the economics ministry.
Tsai subjected mice with depression to forced swimming, maze running and open field movement to monitor changes in neural transmitters such as dopamine and serotonin as well as the stress hormone cortisol.
Dopamine levels more than tripled in depressed mice fed PS128 for two weeks and doubled in regular mice, indicating higher levels of happiness and excitement in both groups, Tsai said.
Serotonin, which eases agitation, fatigue and chronic pain, increased 20 percent in mice with depression and doubled in mice without, he said.
Cortisol returned to normal levels as well after the two-week treatment, he said.
Tsai said he has applied for patents in Taiwan and the US in preparation for commercial production.
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
‘T-DOME’: IBCS would increase Taiwan’s defense capabilities, enabling air defense units to use data from any sensor system and cut reaction time, a defense official said A defense official yesterday said that a purported new arms sale the US is assembling for Taiwan likely includes Integrated Battle Command Systems (IBCS). The anonymous official’s comments came hours after the Financial Times (FT) reported that Washington is preparing a US$20 billion arms sale encompassing “Patriot missiles and other weapons,” citing eight sources. The Taiwanese official said the IBCS is an advanced command and control system that would play a key role in President William Lai’s (賴清德) flagship defense program, the “T-Dome,” an integrated air defense network to counter ballistic missiles and other threats. The IBCS would increase Taiwan’s
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