CHILDHOOD TRAUMA MAY AFFECT OUR GUT BACTERIA
(Source: International Union of Complementary Medicine Association)
A study from Columbia University has found that early-life adversity is associated with increased gastrointestinal symptoms in children that may have an impact on the brain and behavior as they grow into maturity.
The study was published online on March 28 in the journal Development and Psychopathology.
“A common reason children present to pediatricians’ offices is for gut complaints,” said Nim Tottenham, a professor of psychology at Columbia and the study’s senior author. “Our findings indicate that gastrointestinal symptoms in young children may be a red flag for future emotional health issues.”
Scientists have long noted the strong connection between the gut and the brain.
Previous research has shown that a history of trauma or abuse has been reported in up to half of adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with a prevalence double that of patients without IBS.
“The role of trauma in increasing vulnerability to both gastrointestinal and mental health symptoms is well established in adults, but it is rarely studied in childhood,” said the study’s lead author, Bridget Callaghan, a postdoctoral researcher in Columbia’s psychology department. Furthermore, she said, animal studies have shown that adversity-induced changes in the gut microbiome—the community of bacteria in the body that regulates everything from digestion to immune system function—influence neurodevelopment, but no human studies have done so.
“Our study is one of the first to link the disruption of a child’s gastrointestinal microbiome triggered by early-life adversity to brain activity in regions associated with emotional health,” Callaghan said.
The researchers focused on development in children who suffered extreme psychosocial deprivation due to institutional care before international adoption. Separation of a child from a parent is known to be a powerful predictor of mental health problems in humans. That experience, when modeled in rodents, induces fear and anxiety, impairs neurodevelopment, and alters microbial communities throughout life.
The researchers drew on data from 115 children adopted from orphanages or foster homes at approximately 2 years of age, and from 229 children raised by a biological caregiver. Children with previous caregiving disturbances showed higher levels of symptoms that included stomachache, constipation, vomiting, and nausea.
From that sample of adoptees, the researchers selected eight participants, aged 7 to 13, from the adversity-exposed group and another eight who had been in the group raised by their biological parents. Tottenham and Callaghan collected behavioral information, stool samples, and brain images from all the children. They used gene sequencing to identify the microbes present in the stool samples and examined the abundance and diversity of bacteria in each participant’s fecal matter.
Children with a history of early caregiving disruptions had gut microbiomes that were distinctly different from those raised with biological caregivers from birth. Brain scans of all children also showed that patterns of brain activity were correlated with certain bacteria. For example, children raised by their parents had greater gut microbiome diversity, which is linked to the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain known to help regulate emotions.
“It is too early to say anything conclusive, but our study indicates that changes associated with adversity in the gut microbiome are related to brain function, including differences in regions of the brain associated with emotional processing,” says Tottenham, an expert in emotional development.
More research is needed, but Tottenham and Callaghan believe their study helps fill an important gap in the literature.
“Animal studies tell us that dietary interventions and probiotics can manipulate the gut microbiome and improve the effects of adversity on the central nervous system, especially during the first few years of life when the developing brain and microbiome are most plastic,” says Callaghan. “It is possible that this type of research will help us know if and how to better intervene in humans, and when.”
Callaghan and Tottenham are currently working on a large-scale study with 60 children in New York City to see if their findings can be replicated. They expect results later this year.
This article has been republished from materials provided by Columbia University. Note: the material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, contact the cited source.
Reference: Callaghan, B.L., Fields, A., Gee, D.G., Gabard-Durnam, L., Caldera, C., Humphreys, K.L., … Tottenham, N. (not defined / ed). Mind and gut: associations between mood and gastrointestinal distress in children exposed to adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419000087
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