23 January 2020 - Nutraingredients - What your child’s gut health says about their behavior

“We discovered that not only are there significant associations between metrics of socioeconomic risk and behavioral dysregulation with the microbiome, but that the quality of the parent-child relationship (here parentally reported) and parental stress statistically moderated these relationships. Furthermore, we uncovered associations between individual taxa (e.g., B. fragilis) and functional groups (e.g., monoamine metabolism) within the microbiome and metrics of socioeconomic risk and behavioral dysregulation. These taxa and functional groups represent potential mechanisms through which the microbiome interacts with the psychosocial environment and, if replicated, potentially influence the development of behavior.”

Indeed, development trajectories are impacted by the children's own genes and environmental factors, but also by the microbes inside their bodies.

"We are not saying that the microbiome is causing the behavior. It may be that the behavior is causing microbiome changes. It's difficult to disentangle the confounding factors.”

The authors added that future human and animal studies are needed to “tease apart specific behavioral links with the microbiome and extend this design to a wider range of behavioral symptomatology and socioeconomic risk.”

The gut-brain axis

This is just one of the growing number of studies that suggest the microbiome plays a role beyond digestive system. The gut also secretes mood-regulating chemicals. In fact, it is estimated that 90% of the body's serotonin is made in the digestive tract. 

"The role of the gut microbiome in mental health is a rapidly emerging field of research, however more research is needed into the role of 'psychobiotics' in mental health treatment,” said Dr. Joseph Firth, Senior Research Fellow at NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University.