UCC scientists find a healthy gut can influence people’s brain function

The positive impact of a healthy gut on our physical wellbeing has been touted for some time. But new research shows it can also influence brain function and behaviour.

Scientists at the APC Microbiome Institute at University College Cork (UCC) who investigated whether gut bacteria influence the area of the brain that governs our higher cognitive functions (prefrontal cortex) found, to their surprise, that it does.

Specifically, the scientists found that gut microbiome (bacteria, fungi, viruses that live in the gut) have a potential role in regulating myelination in the brain. Myelin is the insulation around nerve cells that allows appropriate and efficient communications between the nerve cells and is essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system.