For the lay reader, the link between bacteria and waking up at 4 AM seems absurd. But by 1973, pioneering work by Dr. Rosalind McCabe (fictionalized here for representation) had proposed three mechanisms:
The report would have coolly concluded that "early awakening" in GF adolescents is not a disorder but a default state of the vertebrate brain in the absence of microbial symbionts. early awakening report 14 and under 1973 germ free
The most cited—and controversial—section of the report dealt with the "Germ Free" child. The researchers divided the 14-and-under cohort into two groups: those with "High Microbial Exposure" (rural, large families) and "Low Microbial Exposure" (urban, small families, hyper-hygienic households). For the lay reader, the link between bacteria
The 1973 report concluded with what was then a startling correlation: The report would have coolly concluded that "early
The term "Germ Free" in the 1973 report title refers to a subset of the population or a theoretical model examined during the TennCare evaluations.