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When young and old mice lived together, the younger ones picked up the microbe from their older roommates, and started having trouble with memory tests.
Treating them with antibiotics brought their brains back on track.
Germ-free older mice did not show age-related memory decline, and colonizing young germ-free mice with an old microbiome or with Parabacteroides goldsteinii produced memory deficits.

Researchers tried a few fixes: stimulating the vagus nerve helped restore memory in older mice, and using targeted viruses (bacteriophages) against P. goldsteinii also improved brain function.
The team noted that gut inflammation from things like colitis or infection can mess with memory too, so keeping your gut healthy might matter more than you think!