Preliminary evidence for an association between the composition of the gut microbiome and cognitive function in neurologically healthy older adults
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is implicated in numerous human health conditions. Animal studies have linked microbiome disruption to changes in cognitive functioning, although no study has examined this possibility in neurologically healthy older adults. METHODS: Participants were 43 community-dwelling older adults (50-85 years) that completed a brief cognitive test battery and provided stool samples for gut microbiome sequencing. Participants performing≥1 SD below normative performance on two or more tests were compared to persons with one or fewer impaired scores. RESULTS: Mann Whitney U tests revealed different distributions of Bacteroidetes (p=.01), Firmicutes (p=.02), Proteobacteria (p=.04), and Verrucomicrobia (p=.003) between Intact and Impaired groups. These phyla were significantly correlated with cognitive test performances, particularly Verrucomicrobia and attention/executive function measures. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that composition of the gut microbiome is associated with cognitive test performance in neurologically healthy older adults. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings and explore possible mechanisms. (JINS, 2017, 23, 700-705).
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Human studies comparing the composition of the GM of elderly participants suffering from cognitive impairment with healthy individuals indicate significant changes in GM composition, specifically an increase in pro-inflammatory taxa and a reduction in anti-inflammatory taxa.
“Human studies comparing the composition of the GM of elderly participants suffering from cognitive impairment with healthy individuals indicate significant changes in GM composition. Specifically, there is an increase in pro-inflammatory taxa and a reduction in anti-inflammatory taxa (104–109).”
From Signalling cognition: The gut microbiota and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (2023) · cites this paper as [106]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Manderino, L., Carroll, I., Azcarate-Peril, M. A., Rochette, A., Heinberg, L., Peat, C., Steffen, K., Mitchell, J., & Gunstad, J.
- Affiliations
- Kent State University (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine (US)
- North Dakota State University (US)
- University of North Dakota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gunstad, John
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2017-06-23
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 700-705
- ISSN
- 1355-6177 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-7661
- PMC
- PMC6111127
- OpenAlex
- W2635986780
- Cited by
- 125
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 3.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
- UNC Libraries
- Funders
- Kent State University
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (P30DK034987, P30DK056350)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Keywords
- gut microbiota, cognitive function, older adults, dysbiosis, Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, attention, executive function, cognitive impairment
- MeSH terms
- Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Attention, Cognition, Female, Humans, Language, Male, Memory, Middle Aged, Neuropsychological Tests, Executive Function
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