Gut microbiota maturation and early behavioral and cognitive development

Abstract

The presence of gut microbiota-brain-axis has been widely reported. However, few studies have focused on uncovering the potential associations during a time-period that our brain and gut microbiota undergo rapid maturation. We evaluated the potential associations between characteristics of gut microbiota and cognition and temperament using an accelerated longitudinal design in typically developing children over 0–3 years of age. Specifically, we extracted gut microbiota characteristics at three scale levels: diversity measures, microbial networks, and subject-wise longitudinal trajectory features, shedding light on how associations between cognition/temperament and gut microbiota may differ at global (diversity), ecological (microbial networks) and subject-wise levels. Our findings illustrated that associations between gut microbiota and temperament/cognition varied with the analytical approaches and highlighted differential gut microbial features in association with cognition and temperament traits—diversity measures and microbial networks largely with cognition while subject-wise trajectories with temperament. In addition, Ruminococcus bromii exhibited significant associations with cognitions spanning over multiple subdomains. Finally, the associations of gut microbiota with temperament and cognition converge on the potential interplay of language ability and social behaviors and highlight the importance of age-appropriate gut microbiota on early cognition/temperament development.