Diversity of microorganisms is good for boys, but not for girls

Previous research has established a link between the gut microbiota and behaviors such as depression, anxiety, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Hannah Laue, an associate researcher at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, the first author of the study, and a PhD in science, explained: "A lot of previous studies have focused on those Participants who have already experienced symptoms of depression or anxiety

Laue said that focusing on infancy also allows researchers to study a critical time window, when the microbiome and the brain are going through their fastest period of development, when the brain may be particularly susceptible to changes in the microbiome

In order to determine whether the differences in the infant microbiome are related to neurobehavior, and whether this behavior is different between boys and girls, the research team used the New Hampshire Birth Cohort study established in 2009 to investigate the effects of environmental factors.

In this study, researchers analyzed fecal samples (collected by nursing staff) of 260 infants at different time points (6 weeks, 1 year and 2 years)

The research team was able to determine that the change in the microbiome occurred before the change in behavior

Laue said: "For example, we found that the increase in gut diversity is better for boys, which means that it is related to the decrease in behaviors such as anxiety and depression, but not in girls

Although their findings did not find a microbial species that can be used immediately to help prevent children from producing neurobehaviors such as anxiety or depression, Laue said: "We think these results do provide information for future research, which can be studied in more depth.

Hannah E.