Association of the gut microbiota with cognitive function in midlife

This study conducted in 2022 examined a sample of middle-aged adults on the relationship between their gut microbiota and cognitive ability. The data was taken from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) cohort, which collected stool samples for DNA analysis in 2015 and 2016. Microbiome data were available on 597 CARDIA participants. The average age of the sample was around 52 years, and most of the subjects were female. The beta-diversity of the gut microbiota (which is the diversity between each person) was significantly associated with all cognitive measures except letter fluency. Several cognitive test outcomes were found to have connections with health behaviors (such as physical activity, diet, smoking, medication use) and clinical covariates (body mass index, diabetes, hypertension). There were also positive and negative relationships between certain microbial genera and cognitive test results. To summarize, the composition of the participants’ gut microbial community, based on beta-diversity, showed correlations with all but one cognitive measure (letter fluency). This study adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that the gut microbiota may have a role in cognitive aging, but further investigation using larger samples are warranted. [NPID: gut microbiota, gut microbiome, cognition, cognitive function, brain, health behaviors]

Year: 2022

Reference: Meyer, K., Lulla, A., Debroy, K., Shikany, J. M., Yaffe, K., Meirelles, O., & Launer, L. J. (2022). Association of the Gut Microbiota With Cognitive Function in Midlife. JAMA network open, 5(2), e2143941. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.43941

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