TY - JOUR
T1 - Insular resting state functional connectivity is associated with gut microbiota diversity
AU - Curtis, Kaylah
AU - Stewart, Christopher J.
AU - Robinson, Meghan
AU - Molfese, David L.
AU - Gosnell, Savannah N.
AU - Kosten, Thomas R.
AU - Petrosino, Joseph F.
AU - De La Garza, Richard
AU - Salas, Ramiro
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Published 2019. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA
PY - 2019/8/1
Y1 - 2019/8/1
N2 - The gut microbiota has recently gained attention as a possible modulator of brain activity. A number of reports suggest that the microbiota may be associated with neuropsychiatric conditions such as major depressive disorder, autism and anxiety. The gut microbiota is thought to influence the brain via vagus nerve signalling, among other possible mechanisms. The insula processes and integrates these vagal signals. To determine if microbiota diversity and structure modulate brain activity, we collected faecal samples and examined insular function using resting state functional connectivity (RSFC). Thirty healthy participants (non-smokers, tobacco smokers and electronic cigarette users, n = 10 each) were studied. We found that the RSFC between the insula and several regions (frontal pole left, lateral occipital cortex right, lingual gyrus right and cerebellum 4, 5 and vermis 9) were associated with bacterial microbiota diversity and structure. In addition, two specific bacteria genera, Prevotella and Bacteroides, were specifically different in tobacco smokers and also associated with insular connectivity. In conclusion, we show that insular connectivity is associated with microbiome diversity, structure and at least two specific bateria genera. Furthemore, this association is potentially modulated by tobacco smoking, although the sample sizes for the different smoking groups were small and this result needs validation in a larger cohort. While replication is necessary, the microbiota is a readily accessible therapeutic target for modulating insular connectivity, which has previously been shown to be abnormal in anxiety and tobacco use disorders.
AB - The gut microbiota has recently gained attention as a possible modulator of brain activity. A number of reports suggest that the microbiota may be associated with neuropsychiatric conditions such as major depressive disorder, autism and anxiety. The gut microbiota is thought to influence the brain via vagus nerve signalling, among other possible mechanisms. The insula processes and integrates these vagal signals. To determine if microbiota diversity and structure modulate brain activity, we collected faecal samples and examined insular function using resting state functional connectivity (RSFC). Thirty healthy participants (non-smokers, tobacco smokers and electronic cigarette users, n = 10 each) were studied. We found that the RSFC between the insula and several regions (frontal pole left, lateral occipital cortex right, lingual gyrus right and cerebellum 4, 5 and vermis 9) were associated with bacterial microbiota diversity and structure. In addition, two specific bacteria genera, Prevotella and Bacteroides, were specifically different in tobacco smokers and also associated with insular connectivity. In conclusion, we show that insular connectivity is associated with microbiome diversity, structure and at least two specific bateria genera. Furthemore, this association is potentially modulated by tobacco smoking, although the sample sizes for the different smoking groups were small and this result needs validation in a larger cohort. While replication is necessary, the microbiota is a readily accessible therapeutic target for modulating insular connectivity, which has previously been shown to be abnormal in anxiety and tobacco use disorders.
KW - electronic cigarette
KW - fMRI
KW - insula
KW - microbiome
KW - tobacco
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U2 - 10.1111/ejn.14305
DO - 10.1111/ejn.14305
M3 - Article
C2 - 30554441
AN - SCOPUS:85067361098
SN - 0953-816X
VL - 50
SP - 2446
EP - 2452
JO - European Journal of Neuroscience
JF - European Journal of Neuroscience
IS - 3
ER -