Understanding how diet influences brain health is a very important area of research. During the past two decades there has been an exponential increase in research on the gut microbiome and its roles in health and disease. Diets high in fiber are not only improve gut health but may also be beneficial for other organ systems including the brain. Gut bacteria ferment dietary fibers resulting in the production of the short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) butyrate, propionate, and acetate. In this episode I talk with University of Leuven scientist Boushra Dalile about her research aimed at understanding if and how SCFAs affect cognition and stress responses in humans. Her experiments have shown that SCFAs attenuate neuroendocrine stress responses and butyrate in particular enhances memory. We talk about actions of butyrate mediated by interaction with cell surface receptors and nuclear histone deacetylases, as well as effects on the vagus nerve as possible mechanisms of action.

LINKS

Dalile webpage at KU Leuven

https://ppw.kuleuven.be/lbp/Bramlab/People/00115135

Boushra's Instagram on cooking for a healthy gut microbiome

https://www.instagram.com/boushracooks/

Review article on SCFAs produced by gut bacteria and their effects on the brain

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41575-019-0157-3

Perspective on prebiotics and brain health

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11663957/pdf/main.pdf

Original research studies discussed in this podcast

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7784980/pdf/41386_2020_Article_732.pdf

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38199487/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38199487/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42557391/