#IDIBELLseminars: Gut Feelings: The Microbiome as a Key Regulator of Brain & Behaviour Across the Lifespan

The microbiota-gut-brain axis is emerging as a research area of increasing interest for those investigating the biological and physiological basis of neurodevelopmental, age-related and neuropsychiatric disorders. The routes of communication between the gut and brain include the vagus nerve, the immune system, via the enteric nervous system or via microbial metabolites such as short chain fatty acids. Studies in animal models have been key in delineating that neurodevelopment and the programming of an appropriate stress response is dependent on the microbiota. Developmentally, a variety of factors can impact the microbiota in early life including mode of birth delivery, antibiotic exposure, mode of nutritional provision, infection, stress as well as host genetics. . Finally, studies examining the translation of these effects from animals to humans are currently ongoing. Further studies will focus on understanding the mechanisms underlying such brain effects and developing nutritional and microbial-based psychobiotic intervention strategies and how these interact with various systems in the body across the lifespan.

Hosted by Francisco Ciruela, Neuropharmacology and pain group

John F. Cryan is Professor & Chair, Dept. of Anatomy & Neuroscience, University College Cork (UCC) and has been Vice President for Research & Innovation since 2021. He is also a Principal Investigator in the APC Microbiome Institute. He received a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry and PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Galway, Ireland and was a visiting fellow at the Dept Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia, which was followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA and The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California. He spent four years as a Group Leader in the pharmaceutical industry with Novartis in Basel Switzerland prior to joining UCC in 2005. Prof. Cryan’s current research is focused on understanding the interaction between brain, gut & microbiome and how it applies to stress, psychiatric and immune-related disorders at key time-windows across the lifespan. Prof. Cryan is co-author of the bestselling “The Psychobiotic Revolution: Mood, Food, and the New Science of the Gut-Brain Connection”. He has received numerous awards including from UCC, the University of Utrecht, University of Antwerp, American Gastroenterology Association, Neuroscience Ireland, Neonatal Society, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, British Association of Psychopharmacology, Physiological Society, Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland, & FASEB. He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2017 and is a Past-President of the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society. He has been a TEDMED and TEDx speaker and was profiled in the Netflix documentary Hack Your Health: The Secrets of the Gut.