SCIENTISTS are discovering many ways in which the microorganisms living in the human gastrointes-tinal tract can influence health. These organisms — collectively called the microbiome — are incredibly diverse, and there has been an explosion of research studies investigating this fascinating link over the past few years.
Previous studies in animal experimentsTrusted Source and small clinical studies have shown changes in cognition might link to changes in the gut microbiome. However, few studies have investigated gut microbiota and cognition in large samples from community settings.
Researchers from the United States have recently analyzed data from a large cross-sectional study and found a link between gut microbial composition and cognitive status in middle-aged adults. The partici-pants were recruited from four centers across the U.S. as part of the CARDIA — Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults — study.
These findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting that gut microbiota may be associated with cognitive aging. The results appear in JAMA NeurologyTrusted Source.
Dr. Michelle Wright, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Medical News Today she found the research interesting:
“This study provides a glimpse into how microbes, our social environments, and health behaviors may differentially impact our cognitive health. Many of these factors have been studied independently, and in animal models, but this study evaluated many of these features together, for the first time among a community-dwelling sample, using existing data.”
The study team decided to use data that had already been collected for the CARDIA study. CARDIA is a population-based study of Black and white adults living in four urban areas: Chicago, Minneapolis, Birmingham, AL, and Oakland, CA.
CARDIA’s 30-year follow-up examination took place in 2015–16 and included 3,358 participants. All participants were offered a set of cognitive as-sessments as part of the study, with 3,124 completing at least one assessment.
In addition, 615 of these participants were recruited into a microbiome sub-study that sent stool samples to a central laboratory for DNA sequencing.
The participants completed six cognitive tests: the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), Rey-Auditory Verbal Learning Test, the timed Stroop test, letter fluency, category fluency, and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
