Cited by 365Probiotics and Fermented FoodsGut microbiota and healthGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Bifidobacteria modulate cognitive processes in an anxious mouse strain

Savignac, H.M., Tramullas, M., Kiely, B., Dinan, T.G., Cryan, J.F.·2015·Behavioural Brain Research

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that a brain-gut-microbiome axis exists, which has the potential to play a major role in modulating behaviour. However, the role of this axis in cognition remains relatively unexplored. Probiotics, which are commensal bacteria offering potential health benefit, have been shown to decrease anxiety, depression and visceral pain-related behaviours. In this study, we investigate the potential of two Bifidobacteria strains to modulate cognitive processes and visceral pain sensitivity. Adult male BALB/c mice were fed daily for 11 weeks with B. longum 1714, B. breve 1205 or vehicle treatment. Starting at week 4, animals were behaviourally assessed in a battery of tests relevant to different aspects of cognition, as well as locomotor activity and visceral pain. In the object recognition test, B. longum 1714-fed mice discriminated between the two objects faster than all other groups and B. breve 1205-fed mice discriminated faster than vehicle animals. In the Barnes maze, B. longum 1714-treated mice made fewer errors than other groups, suggesting a better learning. In the fear conditioning, B. longum 1714-treated group also showed better learning and memory, yet presenting the same extinction learning profile as controls. None of the treatments affected visceral sensitivity. Altogether, these data suggest that B. longum 1714 had a positive impact on cognition and also that the effects of individual Bifidobacteria strains do not generalise across the species. Clinical validation of the effects of probiotics on cognition is now warranted.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.02.044

Cites

133 of 133 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • B. longum 1714 enhances fear learning and short-term memory in adult mice, without affecting extinction, while B. breve 1205 has no effect on either measure.

    “For example, B. longum 1714 enhanced fear learning and short-term memory in adult mice, without affecting extinction, while B. breve 1205 had no effect on either measure (Savignac et al., 2015).”

    From The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis (2019) · cites this paper as Savignac et al., 2015

  • The probiotic B. longum (NCC3001) demonstrated vagal pathway-mediated anxiolytic effects in mice, and B. longum (1714) showed improved learning and memory after 11 weeks of supplementation.

    “The probiotic B. longum (NCC3001) demonstrated vagal pathway-mediated anxiolytic effects in mice and B. longum (1714) showed improved learning and memory after 11 weeks of supplementation (192, 390).”
  • Bifidobacterium longum 1714 had a positive impact on cognition in stressed mice.

    “Bifidobacterium longum 1714 had a positive impact on cognition in stressed mice [248]”
  • Probiotics increase exploratory behavior in rodents under varied conditions, including after dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis.

    “Probiotics have also been shown to increase exploratory behavior in rodents under varied conditions [28–30] including probiotic treatment after dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis [31].”

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Savignac, H. M., Tramullas, M., Kiely, B., Dinan, T. G., & Cryan, J. F.
Affiliations
  • University College Cork (IE)
  • Alimentary Health (Ireland) (IE)
Corresponding author
  • Dinan, T.G.
  • Cryan, J.F.
Venue
Behavioural Brain Research
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-07
Volume
287
Pages
59-72
ISSN
0166-4328 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2019250366
Cited by
365
References
133
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 41 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 11
FWCI
47.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Behavioural Brain Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/12/RC/2273)
  • Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)
  • Health Research Board (HRA_POR/2011/23, HRA_POR/2012/32)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
Bifidobacterium, probiotics, gut-brain axis, cognition, anxiety, object recognition memory, spatial learning, fear conditioning, memory extinction, BALB/c mice
MeSH terms
Animals, Anxiety, Bifidobacterium, Body Weight, Cognition, Conditioning, Classical, Fear, Male, Mice, Inbred BALB C, Motor Activity, Stress, Psychological, Maze Learning, Probiotics, Recognition, Psychology, Mice, Visceral Pain

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review