Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42358480›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, & immunity - health2026

A protocol for the Teen Bugs study: An integrative, multi-omics approach to understanding the role of the gut microbiome and mesocorticolimbic system in adolescent mental health following early adverse caregiving.

Genesis D Flores, Zoe F Damon, Mary Ford, Naomi N Gancz, Paul W Savoca, Shiba M Esfand, Kristen A Chu, Francesca R Querdasi, Clare F McCann, Jonathan G Westman and 7 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Genesis D FloresDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Zoe F DamonDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Mary FordDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Naomi N GanczDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Paul W SavocaDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Shiba M EsfandDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Kristen A ChuDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Francesca R QuerdasiDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Clare F McCannDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Jonathan G WestmanLanser Westman Psychology Group, Los Angeles, CA, 90025, USA.
Jennifer S LabusG. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
David ClewettDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Ashley C ParrDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
Elaine Y HsiaoVatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Jonathan JacobsVatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Jennifer SilversDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Bridget L CallaghanDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Caregiving-related early adversities (crEAs) are potent risk factors for the development of internalizing psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety). Alterations to the dopaminergic mesocorticolimbic system, which supports the construction of reward-related experiences, are commonly observed following crEA exposure and are thought to mediate this risk. Indeed, many internalizing disorders are characterized by disruptions in how reward-related information is represented and used to guide affective and motivational states. Critically, the effects of crEA on mesocorticolimbic functioning may be shaped by input from peripheral systems, such as the gut microbiome, though such bottom-up signaling has been markedly understudied in humans. The Teen Bugs study was thus developed to identify gut microbiome-dependent metabolic pathways linking crEA exposure to mesocorticolimbic functioning and internalizing symptoms in adolescents, a group that experiences a disproportionate incidence of psychopathology relative to other age groups and is underrepresented in the gut microbiome literature. Adolescents aged 12-15 years, with and without histories of crEA exposure, will be followed across three timepoints over five years. At each timepoint, participants will complete a semi-structured clinical interview, a reward-guided decision-making task, and self-report questionnaires assessing mental health, previous caregiving experiences, reward-related behaviors, as well as developmental and lifestyle factors. Participants will also undergo multimodal neuroimaging that leverages MRI-based proxy markers of dopaminergic neurobiology and provide stool and blood samples for metagenomic and metabolomic profiling, respectively. This integrative design has the potential to clarify developmentally salient mechanisms that may serve as novel therapeutic targets for youth most at risk of, or already experiencing, internalizing psychopathology.

Indexed as

AdolescenceAnxietyDepressionEarly adversityMesocorticolimbic systemMicrobiome-gut-brain axis

Identifiers

PMID42358480
PMCPMC13292554

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.