ReviewGut microbes2026
Gut bacteria and their metabolites may influence our decisions, intelligence, cognition, and consciousness.
Review in Gut microbes, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The human gut hosts approximately 38 trillion bacteria, representing 400 to 500 species. Gut bacteria are in constant communication with the central nervous system (CNS) via the enteric nervous system (ENS), the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the autonomic nervous system (ANS), the immune system, the enteroendocrine system (EES), and the vagus nerve (VN). Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), especially butyrate, strengthen the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and modulate inflammatory signaling, thereby affecting brain function and cognitive performance. Acetate enhances the synthesis of lipid-rich myelin that protects neurons. Signaling molecules that cross the gut wall may optimize synaptic signaling in the frontal cortex. Bacterial metabolites that stimulate inflammatory responses activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, thereby increasing glucocorticoid production. This may reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex and suppress higher-order thinking and decision-making. We discuss how signaling molecules produced by gut bacteria influence the limbic system (thalamus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus), primarily involved in emotions, memory, and motivation. The HPA axis and the gut microbiota-oligodendrocyte axis (GMOA) are discussed in more detail. We ask whether interactions between signaling molecules produced by gut bacteria and the limbic system can affect human intelligence, cognition, consciousness, and decision-making, coordinated by the cerebrum (cerebral cortex), prefrontal cortex, and parietal lobe.
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Registered trials
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.