Feeding Gut Microbes for a Healthy Brain
- Francesca S. Gazzaniga, PhD
- Harvard Medical School and Harvard University
-
KEY FINDINGS:
- Human patients with Parkinson’s and autism also demonstrate gut microbiota dysbiosis (imbalance) and often present with symptoms of gastrointestinal dysfunction.
- Novel technologies such as microfluidic gut-on-a-chip systems, which are in vitro “miniature guts” with living cells and a microbiome, are currently being utilized to identify the mechanisms and molecules by which gut bacteria stimulate the immune system to protect and combat neurological diseases.
- The emerging roles of the gut microbiota in the development of human neurological diseases are being studied using novel technologies that may lead to successful therapies.