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TOPLINE:
Cognitive function in children aged 18 months to 10 years is associated with the enrichment or depletion of specific species of gut microbes, new research reveals.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed the relationship between the microbiome, neuroanatomy, and cognition (ie, the microbiome-gut-brain axis) in stool samples from 381 neurotypically developing children aged 40 days to 10 years (mean age, 2 years and 2 months).
- Stool samples were taken within a week of age-appropriate cognitive and behavioral assessments.
- Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze the DNA of the organisms present in each sample.
- MRI data were obtained, with machine models then used to predict whether participants’ brain region volume was influenced by microbial profiles.
TAKEAWAY:
- Researchers found increasing variation in microbial species and microbial gene functions in children older than 18 months, and the overall variation was significantly associated with variation in cognitive function scores.
- Several microbial species were significantly enriched in children with higher cognitive function scores (eg, Alistipes obesi, Asaccharobacter celatus, Eubacterium eligens, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii), with Sutterella wadsworthensis being the only species significantly negatively associated with these scores.
- Machine models indicated that taxa key in predicting cognitive function were similarly important for predicting individual brain regions and subscales of cognitive function.
IN PRACTICE:
“Understanding the gut-brain-microbiome axis in early life is particularly important since differences or interventions in early life can have outsized and longer-term consequences than those at later ages,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
The study, led by Kevin S. Bonham, PhD, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, was published online on December 22, 2023, in Science Advances.
LIMITATIONS:
Use of multiple age-appropriate cognitive assessments enabled analysis across multiple developmental periods, but test-retest reliability and differences between test administrators may have introduced noise into these observations, particularly in the youngest children. The study period overlapped with the beginning of the pandemic, and score reductions due to the lockdowns were more pronounced in some age groups than during the recruitment period.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and Wellcome: LEAP 1kD. The authors declared no competing interests.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Cognitive function in children aged 18 months to 10 years is associated with the enrichment or depletion of specific species of gut microbes, new research reveals.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed the relationship between the microbiome, neuroanatomy, and cognition (ie, the microbiome-gut-brain axis) in stool samples from 381 neurotypically developing children aged 40 days to 10 years (mean age, 2 years and 2 months).
- Stool samples were taken within a week of age-appropriate cognitive and behavioral assessments.
- Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze the DNA of the organisms present in each sample.
- MRI data were obtained, with machine models then used to predict whether participants’ brain region volume was influenced by microbial profiles.
TAKEAWAY:
- Researchers found increasing variation in microbial species and microbial gene functions in children older than 18 months, and the overall variation was significantly associated with variation in cognitive function scores.
- Several microbial species were significantly enriched in children with higher cognitive function scores (eg, Alistipes obesi, Asaccharobacter celatus, Eubacterium eligens, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii), with Sutterella wadsworthensis being the only species significantly negatively associated with these scores.
- Machine models indicated that taxa key in predicting cognitive function were similarly important for predicting individual brain regions and subscales of cognitive function.
IN PRACTICE:
“Understanding the gut-brain-microbiome axis in early life is particularly important since differences or interventions in early life can have outsized and longer-term consequences than those at later ages,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
The study, led by Kevin S. Bonham, PhD, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, was published online on December 22, 2023, in Science Advances.
LIMITATIONS:
Use of multiple age-appropriate cognitive assessments enabled analysis across multiple developmental periods, but test-retest reliability and differences between test administrators may have introduced noise into these observations, particularly in the youngest children. The study period overlapped with the beginning of the pandemic, and score reductions due to the lockdowns were more pronounced in some age groups than during the recruitment period.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and Wellcome: LEAP 1kD. The authors declared no competing interests.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Cognitive function in children aged 18 months to 10 years is associated with the enrichment or depletion of specific species of gut microbes, new research reveals.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed the relationship between the microbiome, neuroanatomy, and cognition (ie, the microbiome-gut-brain axis) in stool samples from 381 neurotypically developing children aged 40 days to 10 years (mean age, 2 years and 2 months).
- Stool samples were taken within a week of age-appropriate cognitive and behavioral assessments.
- Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was used to analyze the DNA of the organisms present in each sample.
- MRI data were obtained, with machine models then used to predict whether participants’ brain region volume was influenced by microbial profiles.
TAKEAWAY:
- Researchers found increasing variation in microbial species and microbial gene functions in children older than 18 months, and the overall variation was significantly associated with variation in cognitive function scores.
- Several microbial species were significantly enriched in children with higher cognitive function scores (eg, Alistipes obesi, Asaccharobacter celatus, Eubacterium eligens, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii), with Sutterella wadsworthensis being the only species significantly negatively associated with these scores.
- Machine models indicated that taxa key in predicting cognitive function were similarly important for predicting individual brain regions and subscales of cognitive function.
IN PRACTICE:
“Understanding the gut-brain-microbiome axis in early life is particularly important since differences or interventions in early life can have outsized and longer-term consequences than those at later ages,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
The study, led by Kevin S. Bonham, PhD, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts, was published online on December 22, 2023, in Science Advances.
LIMITATIONS:
Use of multiple age-appropriate cognitive assessments enabled analysis across multiple developmental periods, but test-retest reliability and differences between test administrators may have introduced noise into these observations, particularly in the youngest children. The study period overlapped with the beginning of the pandemic, and score reductions due to the lockdowns were more pronounced in some age groups than during the recruitment period.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and Wellcome: LEAP 1kD. The authors declared no competing interests.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.