A recent study, led by Dr. Josef Anrather, an associate professor of neuroscience at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York (USA), has found that the commensal gut microbiota could influence the immune system to decrease the severity of ischemic stroke in mice.

A recent review, published by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Eldin Jasarevic from the Department of Animal Biology in the University of Pennsylvania, argues that sex differences influence the development, maturation, and maintenance of the gut microbiome-brain axis throughout the lifespan.

Neuromediators in the Gut-Brain Axis

11 Mar 2016

by Boris Shenderov

It is increasingly clear that brain processing is influenced by the gastrointestinal microbiota; study of the gut-brain axis has shown evidence that gut bacteria interact with the enteric nervous system and the central nervous system. Good brain function depends on neuromediators -- that is, substances that carry messages between neurons, or from a neuron to another type of cell.

How might microorganisms move from one part of the body to another? Let's begin with the womb, where the concept of fetal colonization has rapidly gained acceptance, indicated by meconium and placental microbe studies.

This Chinese study aimed to characterize the gut microbiota of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD): one group of patients with acute MDD (who scored high on a depression scale, indicating clinically significant depression), called 'active-MDD', and a second group of patients with a history of MDD who had responded to treatment (achieving a 50% reduction in depression scale scores after 4 weeks of treatment), called 'responded-MDD'.

The Gut-Brain Axis: A Two-Way Street

25 Aug 2015

by Paul Enck

A study by De Palma, et al. used germ-free and specific pathogen-free mouse models to investigate the effects of early-life stress.

Does fermented food consumption lower social anxiety?

22 Jul 2015

by Mary Ellen Sanders

Fermented foods are not included in the recently revised ISAPP definition of probiotics, since the bacteria they contain are uncharacterized. But scientists are nevertheless studying how these foods may affect health, including brain function.

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