Abstract
Mental disorders and neurological diseases are becoming a rapidly increasing medical burden. Although extensive studies have been conducted, the progress in developing effective therapies for these diseases has still been slow. The current dilemma reminds us that the human being is a superorganism. Only when we take the human self and its partner microbiota into consideration at the same time, can we better understand these diseases. Over the last few centuries, the partner microbiota has experienced tremendous change, much more than human genes, because of the modern transformations in diet, lifestyle, medical care, and so on, parallel to the modern epidemiological transition. Existing research indicates that gut microbiota plays an important role in this transition. According to gut-brain psychology, the gut microbiota is a crucial part of the gut-brain network, and it communicates with the brain via the microbiota–gut–brain axis. The gut microbiota almost develops synchronously with the gut-brain, brain, and mind. The gut microbiota influences various normal mental processes and mental phenomena, and is involved in the pathophysiology of numerous mental and neurological diseases. Targeting the microbiota in therapy for these diseases is a promising approach that is supported by three theories: the gut microbiota hypothesis, the “old friend” hypothesis, and the leaky gut theory. The effects of gut microbiota on the brain and behavior are fulfilled by the microbiota–gut–brain axis, which is mainly composed of the nervous pathway, endocrine pathway, and immune pathway. Undoubtedly, gut-brain psychology will bring great enhancement to psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry. Various microbiota-improving methods including fecal microbiota transplantation, probiotics, prebiotics, a healthy diet, and healthy lifestyle have shown the capability to promote the function of the gut-brain, microbiota–gut–brain axis, and brain. It will be possible to harness the gut microbiota to improve brain and mental health and prevent and treat related diseases in the future.
Highlights
Mental disorders and neurological diseases are becoming a rapidly increasing medical burden
According to gut-brain psychology, the gut microbiota is a crucial part of the gut-brain network, and it communicates with the brain via the microbiota–gut–brain axis
The effects of gut microbiota on the brain and behavior are fulfilled by the microbiota–gut–brain axis, which is mainly composed of the nervous pathway, endocrine pathway, and immune pathway
Summary
Psychology is a discipline that targets the rules of human psychological phenomena and behavior. Following the development of bioinformatics and gut microbiota research in the 21st century, scientists have found that the human being is a superorganism carrying billons of microorganisms, such as bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, living on its internal and external surfaces (Group, 2008; Limon et al, 2017; Manrique et al, 2017; Wampach et al, 2017) These microorganisms mostly inhabit the skin surface and digestive, respiratory, urinary, and reproductive tracts. Individuals living together for a long time usually share many similarities This phenomenon could be mainly due to the convergence of people’s microorganisms (Yatsunenko et al, 2012), since most of human genes are relatively stable after birth. When the microbiota is deprived, dysfunction can appear in the digestive system, immune system, endocrine system, nervous system, and even in behavior and cognition (Sudo et al, 2005; Fang and Evans, 2013; Crumeyrolle-Arias et al, 2014)
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