{"id":32230,"date":"2023-08-09T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f4379a40-13d6-47b4-9c9e-7b5fad96b01c"},"modified":"2023-08-09T20:38:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:38:25","slug":"adorable-babies-and-a-few-scientists-discover-key-link-between-your-gut-and-brain-health","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/adorable-babies-and-a-few-scientists-discover-key-link-between-your-gut-and-brain-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Adorable babies (and a few scientists) discover key link between your gut and brain health"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Noa Leach\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 09 August 2023 at 18:00 PM<\/p>

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Canadian scientists have discovered that your gut microbiome plays a key role in the development of your brain \u2013 by trawling through baby poo.<\/p>

The human microbiome<\/a> consists of a community of microbes living in your gut<\/a>. A recent study, published in the journal PLOS ONE<\/em>, reveals that the specific combination of these microbes is clearly linked to early cognitive development<\/a>. In other words: what babies\u2019 brains are able to do as they grow.<\/p>

Previous studies have shown the influence of our microbiomes on adult brain health, but this is the first to focus on how it helps us build a healthy brain at the start of our lives.<\/p>

So how did they do it? Scientists at the University of British Columbia, Canada, investigated the poo of 56 babies aged between four and six months old.<\/p>

The babies then undertook at least one of three cognitive tests. The first, known by scientists as the \u2018point and gaze\u2019 test, assesses babies\u2019 social attention.<\/p>

This involves pointing at an object and observing the infant\u2019s gaze upon it. The test measures an infant\u2019s ability to share focus on an object with another person.<\/p>

The scientists found that the babies with the most success in this test had higher amounts of certain groups of microbes in their gut, such as the genus\u00a0Eggerthella<\/em> and the Actinobacteria\u00a0<\/em>phylum. These babies also had lower levels of \u2018bad\u2019 microbes, like the Hungatella<\/em>\u00a0genus, and the\u00a0Strepcococcus<\/em>\u00a0genus, which can cause diseases and infections like Strep A<\/a>.<\/p>

For the second test, the babies listened to a steady beat while the scientists measured their brain activity. Using a brain imaging technique called electroencephalography (EEG), the team assessed the brains\u2019 rhythmic processing of the sound.<\/p>

The babies who processed the rhythm better also tended to have similarly high or low levels of particular microbes to each other. Further, these \u2018successful\u2019 babies\u2019 bodies showed similar levels of microbe-related chemical reactions to those which have been linked to brain and spinal cord development in previous studies.<\/p>

For the third test, the team had the babies listen to recordings of human speech played both forwards and backwards. Meanwhile, they measured the blood flow in their brains using another brain imaging technique called functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).<\/p>

This test, however, did not show a link between the babies\u2019 microbiome composition and their blood flow.<\/p>

Overall, the findings suggest that the human gut microbiome influences cognitive development. As a small, pilot study, though, the scientists recommend further replication and research in order to confirm and build on their findings.<\/p>

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