Abstract

The ability of gut microbiota to communicate with the brain is emerging as an exciting concept in health and disease. Mounting evidence, mostly from rodent studies, suggests that gut microbes help shape normal neural development, brain biochemistry, and behaviour.Bridging the gap between animal studies and application for treatment in humans will be the next big challenge. There are still many mysteries when it comes to understanding how the microbiome might affect the brain. If research is able to solve even a fraction of them, the microbiota-brain axis could be a powerful target for influencing mood and behaviour, for example in anxiety and depression, as well as preventing or treating brain-related diseases, including (potentially) Parkinsona€™s disease, Alzheimera€™s disease, schizophrenia and autism.