Effects of Probiotics on Cognitive Reactivity, Mood, and Sleep Quality
Open accessAbstract
Recent demonstration that probiotics administration has positive effects on mood state in healthy populations suggests its possible role as an adjunctive therapy for depression in clinical populations and as a non-invasive strategy to prevent depressive mood state in healthy individuals. The present study extends current knowledge on the beneficial effects of probiotics on psychological well-being, as measured by changes in mood (e.g., cognitive reactivity to sad mood, depression, and anxiety), personality dimensions, and quality of sleep, which have been considered as related to mood. For this double-blind, placebo-controlled study 38 healthy volunteers assigned to an experimental or control group assumed a daily dose of a probiotic mixture (containing Lactobacillus fermentum LF16, L. rhamnosus LR06, L. plantarum LP01, and Bifidobacterium longum BL04) or placebo, respectively, for 6 weeks. Mood, personality dimensions, and sleep quality were assessed four times (before the beginning of the study, at 3 and 6 weeks, and at 3 weeks of washout). A significant improvement in mood was observed in the experimental group, with a reduction in depressive mood state, anger, and fatigue, and an improvement in sleep quality. No between-groups differences were found. These findings corroborate the positive effect of probiotics on mood state and suggest that probiotics administration may improve psychological well-being by ameliorating aspects of mood and sleep quality.
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In healthy adults, 6 weeks of a multi-strain probiotic improved mood and sleep quality with reduction in depressive mood state, anger, and fatigue.
“Moreover, 6 weeks supplementation of 4 × 109 CFU/live cells of L. fermementum LF16, L. rhamnosus LR06, L. plantarum LP01, and B. longum BL04 improved mood and sleep quality with a reduction in depressive mood state, anger and fatigue [279].”
From International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Probiotics (2019) · cites this paper as [279]
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- Authors
- Marotta, A., Sarno, E., Del Casale, A., Pane, M., Mogna, L., Amoruso, A., Felis, G. E., & Fiorio, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Verona (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Marotta, Angela
- Fiorio, Mirta
- ORCID
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2019-03-27
- Volume
- 10
- Pages
- 164-164
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6445894
- OpenAlex
- W2924969654
- Cited by
- 186
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 13.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Medicinal Plant Extracts Effects
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- probiotics, mood, sleep quality, depression, anxiety, anger, fatigue, personality, psychological well-being, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium longum, healthy volunteers
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