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The effect of gut microbiome diversity on emotion regulation abilities and mental health| old_uid | 17971 |
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| title | The effect of gut microbiome diversity on emotion regulation abilities and mental health |
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| start_date | 2019/11/11 |
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| schedule | 15h15 |
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| online | no |
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| summary | Recent research in both human and animal models has highlighted the important role that gut microbiota play in regulating the brain and subsequent behaviour, particularly within the context of mental health problems, such as anxiety. These models have also suggested that modifying microbial ecology therapeutically via the intake of psychobiotics (e.g., prebiotics), may reduce symptoms of anxiety- a finding which has the potential to revolutionise contemporary intervention and therapy. The transferability of these animal models to humans however is less clear.
Here I will present the results from a 4-week double blind, placebo-controlled prebiotic supplement intervention study which used emotion regulation abilities as a model for mental health to understand how changes in gut microbiome diversity relate to psychological- and brain-functioning in a sample of 65 female participants. In this study, we focused on multiple indices of mood and well-being (self-report measures and behavioural testing), and we also obtained stool samples from each participant for microbiome sequencing. Moreover, for a subsample of participants, we obtained 1HRMS measures of brain-based neurotransmitter abundance in key emotion regulation regions. Our results showed that the prebiotics intervention reduced self-reported high trait anxiety and reduced negative attentional bias. Moreover, we also found that higher levels of GABA in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) were associated with lower anxiety levels in the prebiotics group, but not the placebo group. Critically, this effect was specific for the PFC and not found in the control region (inferior occipital cortex), which suggests that the prebiotic intake also had an effect at the brain level. Together, the results highlight the feasibility of using a dietary intervention to change indices of emotion regulation and mental health at the behavioural and brain level and bring us closer in translating animal research to the human model. |
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| responsibles | Lawrence |
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