The Gut, The Brain and Child Development

'Trust your gut' ' how many times have you heard someone say that? Well, today 'going with your gut' has taken on a whole new meaning.

That's because our intestinal tract is the largest source of nerve cells outside the brain and it's well established that the microbes there talk to the brain by interacting with the nerve networks in the gut. New research now suggests that our gut microbiome is likely to have a key role in how the brain develops during childhood. Hmmm' not sure parents appreciate one more thing they have to worry about.

Researchers compared a developing child's gut microbiome with their brain activity. For kids under two years old, there was a strong association between early brain network function and Bifidobacterium. Bifidobacterium longum was found to be associated with brain activity linked to our ability to pay attention. That's an important milestone for a baby, to see how well they can focus on external stimuli.

Another Bifidobacterium, B. pseudocatenulatum was found to be associated with language development. Speech development is another key milestone for children. Maybe it's not so surprising then that Bifidobacterium is one of the earliest colonizers of the intestinal tract after birth. And it turns out that infants who have high numbers of it are breast fed.

Researchers in the study plan to follow the children's gut microbiome for seven years to see if Bifidobacterium or other bacteria continue to have an impact on key developmental areas. Maybe in the future, parents will be able to buy probiotics teeming with the right bacterium for their baby.