Priming for health: gut microbiota acquired in early life regulates physiology, brain and behaviour

Reference Number: 82

Year: 2014

Authors: G Clarke, SM O’Mahony, TG Dinan, J F Cryan

Health: Gut Microbiome - Creating Healthier Bread to Support Optimal Gut Health | Mental Health

Summary

Development of the human brain, the seat of cognition and intelligence, continues into post-natal life and even adolescence. While the framework of subcortical–cortical connectivity is established before mid-gestation and the intra-cortical circuits that integrate information across functional domains also form before birth, their growth and modi?cation extends into puberty (5). For the purpose of this review, we will focus on central nervous system development in the ?rst 3 years of life as this is the period when the gastrointestinal microbiota also develops, and it is likely that interaction occurs between the two. Due to the dynamic nature of brain development during early life, vulnerability exists that allows both genetic and environmental perturbations to in?uence adaptive changes in neuronal circuits.

It is the post-natal period of gut microbiota establishment development and stabilisation that this organ

is suf?ciently poised to exert a great in?uence over the developing brain. While the microbiota is still amenable to manipulation subsequent to this stage and alterations in composition and function can elicit changes at the level of the central nervous system throughout the lifespan, the scars of this early-life period are likely to be carried into adulthood.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS STUDY

The concomitant development of the central nervous system and the various elements of the brain–gut axis during early life means that there is potential for interaction between the systems in both normal and pathological situations. Moreover, these particular developmental events may be vulnerable to environmental perturbation, including premature birth, low birthweight, toxin exposure, nutritional de?ciencies, vascular accidents, maternal infection and the microbiota.

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82 - ‘Priming for health: gut microbiota acquired in early life regulates physiology, brain and behaviour’. Acta Pædiatrica. 103, pp. 812–819

Summary

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