Salivary microbiome, socioeconomic status, and cognitive performance: Triangulating the relationship

Research increasingly demonstrates that endogenous bacterial communities (microbiomes) are associated with both cognitive functioning and socioeconomic status (SES). In this study, we used a metagenomics approach to characterize oral microbiome diversity in Hispanic and African American children aged 6-16 years. We examined how microbiome composition and SES were related to cognitive performance, as assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). Our findings indicate that SES and the microbiome contributed complementary, comparably sized influences on cognitive functioning. Together, variability in conventional SES indicators and microbiome composition accounted for approximately 10% of the variability in WISC scores. These results highlight the importance of integrating both social and biological determinants of health when studying cognitive performance and other psychological outcomes.