Gut Brain Axis Flashcards
What integrates the microbiota-gut-brain axis?
Metabolites
Neurotransmitters
Hormones
- Immune system
- Vagus nerve
- Enteric nervous system
- Neuroendocrine system
- Circulatory system
What is Nutritional Psychiatry?
It is a new, rapidly emerging field of nutrition & mental with a primary focus on prevention.
It explores the relationship between dietary patterns and the risk of mental health disorders.
The brain’s structure and function is dependent on nutrient intake, including:
Amino acids
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
What foods alter neurotransmitter activity?
Probiotics
What is the Gut-Brain Axis?
A bidirectional communication network links the enteric and central nervous systems.
It is not only anatomical, but it also includes endocrine, humoral, metabolic, and immune communication routes.
What links the gut and brain?
Autonomic nervous system
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
Nerves within the GI
Describe the different ways the gut and brain communicate
- Enteric nervous system (second brain) - vagus nerve
- The production of cytokines and chemokines, neurotransmitters, short-chain fatty acids, hormones, and other molecules and metabolites that cat on the central nervous system.
Explain the Enteric Nervous System (ENS)
ENS is a part of the nervous system and includes a number of neural circuits that control motor functions, local blood flow, mucosal transport and secretions, and modulate immune and endocrine functions.
* It affects nutrient absorption and mucosal barrier status
* The gut can sense, integrate and react to nutrients, bacteria, toxins, internal state
* i.e. anxiety/stress factors in GI
irritable conditions
What is Gut microbiota?
Various microbial entities, such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses, coexist in the animal and human gastrointestinal tract.
Which processes does the Gut microbiota regulate?
Nuerounflammatiory process, alteration in autoimmune and inflammatory responses, and favouring the amyloid-B deposition in AD
Which neurotransmitters is the gut microbiota capable of producing?
Serotonin and dopamine
Explain Dysbiosis
- Alterations in the microbiota lead to dysbiosis of the gut
- resulting in an imbalance in chemical signals and cytokines
- heightens neuroinflammation in the brain
Dysbiosis (microbial imbalance) has been associated with many diseases or disorders, including:
- cancer
- irritable bowel syndrome
- obesity
- neurodevelopmental disorders
- mental illness
- neurodegeneration
Which diet increases the protection from developing mental disorders?
Mediterranean Diet
Stress and GI
Psychological stress can increase the permeability of the gastrointestinal lining
* As a stress- and emotion-related disorder, this association has led depression researchers to explore the potential of manipulating the microbiome of the GI tract to alleviate depressive symptoms.
Which foods are recommended for depression?
Treatment with probiotics may improve symptoms associated with Depression by increasing serotonin availability and/or decreasing levels of inflammatory markers.
Vitamins and Depression
Folate and vitamins B6 and B12 are involved in a series of
methylation reactions that produce monoamine neurotransmitters, phospholipids, and nucleotides.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with memory loss,
depression, and cognitive dysfunction. Higher serum levels of vitamin B12 may be associated with better treatment outcomes in
antidepressant therapy.
Individuals with low folate levels have a lower treatment response
to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant drugs, and research shows that folic acid supplementation can enhance
antidepressant therapy.
Diets recommended to lower the risk of cognitive declines and risk of developing neurodegenerative disease
Studies suggest that consumption of diets rich in antioxidants and
anti-inflammatory components such as those found in fruits, nuts,
vegetables, and spices, or even reduced caloric intake, may lower age-related cognitive declines and the risk of developing
neurodegenerative disease
Which factors impact neuronal plasticity and functions?
Diet
Age
Sex
Gut microbiomes
Which of the following has been associated with depression?
Folate
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B12
