Microbiota and the social brain.
Author: Sherwin E1, Bordenstein SR2, Quinn JL3, Dinan TG1,4, Cryan JF5,6
Affiliation:
1APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
2Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt Microbiome Initiative, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
3School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
4Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
5APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. j.cryan@ucc.ie.
6Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Conference/Journal: Science.
Date published: 2019 Nov 1
Other:
Volume ID: 366 , Issue ID: 6465 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1126/science.aar2016. , Word Count: 153
Sociability can facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes such as division of labor, cooperative care, and increased immunity, but sociability can also promote negative outcomes, including aggression and coercion. Accumulating evidence suggests that symbiotic microorganisms, specifically the microbiota that reside within the gastrointestinal system, may influence neurodevelopment and programming of social behaviors across diverse animal species. This relationship between host and microbes hints that host-microbiota interactions may have influenced the evolution of social behaviors. Indeed, the gastrointestinal microbiota is used by certain species as a means to facilitate communication among conspecifics. Further understanding of how microbiota influence the brain in nature may be helpful for elucidating the causal mechanisms underlying sociability and for generating new therapeutic strategies for social disorders in humans, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).
Copyright © 2019 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
PMID: 31672864 DOI: 10.1126/science.aar2016
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