Summary
The gut microbiome is the collective microbial community that inhabits an organism’s digestive system, helping digest important nutrients and maintain homeostasis. Recently, more research has gone into exploring when there is an imbalance in our gut microbiome which causes detrimental effects, known as gut dysbiosis. Specifically, gut dysbiosis may relate to a dysregulation of oxytocin, an important neurotransmitter that regulates social behavior, in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a broad developmental disability that impairs communication and social interaction.
Current Research
In their 2016 research paper published in Cell, Buffington et al. identified a single strain of bacteria that corrects oxytocin levels in mice offspring who originally exhibited antisocial behavior. This means that there may be hope in sustainably shifting babies’ gut microbiomes to correct for gut dysbiosis and promote more social behavior.
Future Research
Autism spectrum disorder is not only affected by the gut microbiome, and there are many genetic and environmental factors that affect ASD. More research would be needed to explore genetic and epigenetic changes in the mice that were treated with the fecal transplants. A potential experiment that the researchers could do is to treat pregnant mice who are genetically predisposed to giving birth to autistic children with the same bacteria species and seeing whether or not their children exhibit antisocial behavior.
