The Microbiome in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

Amar Sarkar, Siobhán Harty, Soili M. Lehto, Andrew H. Moeller, Timothy G. Dinan, Robin I.M. Dunbar, John F. Cryan, Philip W.J. Burnet

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

149 Scopus citations

Abstract

Psychology and microbiology make unlikely friends, but the past decade has witnessed striking bidirectional associations between intrinsic gut microbes and the brain, relationships with largely untested psychological implications. Although microbe–brain relationships are receiving a great deal of attention in biomedicine and neuroscience, psychologists have yet to join this journey. Here, we illustrate microbial associations with emotion, cognition, and social behavior. However, despite considerable enthusiasm and potential, technical and conceptual limitations including low statistical power and lack of mechanistic descriptions prevent a nuanced understanding of microbiome–brain–behavior relationships. Our goal is to describe microbial effects in domains of cognitive significance and the associated challenges to stimulate interdisciplinary research on the contribution of this hidden kingdom to psychological processes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)611-636
Number of pages26
JournalTrends in Cognitive Sciences
Volume22
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2018
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Keywords

  • antibiotics
  • commensal bacteria
  • gut–brain axis
  • hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
  • interkingdom signaling
  • microbiome
  • microbiota
  • prebiotics
  • probiotics
  • psychobiotics

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