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Updated: Dec 1, 2025
Probiotic Studies in Neonatal Mice Using Gavage
Published on: January 27, 2019
Gut microbiota composition is associated with newborn functional brain connectivity and behavioral temperament
Caroline M Kelsey1, Stephanie Prescott2, John A McCulloch3
1Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, MA, USA.
Insights
The infant gut microbiome influences brain development and behavior. Gut bacteria composition links to brain connectivity, affecting infant temperament and negative emotionality.
Area of Science:
- Microbiome research
- Neuroscience
- Developmental psychology
Background:
- The gut microbiome is crucial for health but its role in early brain and behavioral development is unclear.
- Understanding individual differences in infant development requires exploring factors like the gut microbiome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between gut microbiome composition, brain network connectivity, and behavioral temperament in newborn infants.
- To explore how the gut microbiome-brain-behavior axis develops early in life.
Main Methods:
- Metagenomic sequencing of infant stool samples to assess gut microbiome diversity.
- Resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) to measure functional brain network connectivity.
- Parental reports to assess infant behavioral temperament.
Main Results:
- Gut microbiota composition was associated with individual differences in infant brain network connectivity.
- Brain network connectivity mediated the link between gut microbiota and infant negative emotionality.
- Pathogenic activity markers in the gut microbiome correlated with brain connectivity patterns linked to negative emotionality.
Conclusions:
- The gut microbiome is an early-emerging factor in the gut microbiome-brain axis.
- Gut microbiome composition influences infant brain development and behavioral traits like negative emotionality.
- These findings highlight the gut microbiome's significance in human developmental studies.
Abstract:
The gut microbiome appears to play an important role in human health and disease. However, only little is known about how variability in the gut microbiome contributes to individual differences during early and sensitive stages of brain and behavioral development. The current study examined the link between gut microbiome, brain, and behavior in newborn infants (N = 63; M [age] = 25 days). Infant gut microbiome diversity was measured from stool samples using metagenomic sequencing, infant functional brain network connectivity was assessed using a resting state functional near infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) procedure, and infant behavioral temperament was assessed using parental report. Our results show that gut microbiota composition is linked to individual variability in brain network connectivity, which in turn mediated individual differences in behavioral temperament, specifically negative emotionality, among infants. Furthermore, virulence factors, possibly indexing pathogenic activity, were associated with differences in brain network connectivity linked to negative emotionality. These findings provide novel insights into the early developmental origins of the gut microbiome-brain axis and its association with variability in important behavioral traits. This suggests that the gut microbiome is an important biological factor to consider when studying human development and health.
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