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   Can Behavior Changes Affect Your Microbiome? Investigating the Brain-Gut   
   Connection   
      
      
   NEUROSCIENCE NEWSOCTOBER 29, 2015   
   FEATUREDNEUROLOGY   
      
       
   Study of patients with irritable bowel syndrome undergoing behavioral   
   self-management may strengthen understanding of brain-gut connections.   
      
   The microbiome in your gut can affect your brain: More and more data have   
   recently shown that. But can it go the other way? Can brain changes affect   
   your gut microbiome? And if so, do these changes affect your health and   
   well-being?   
      
   A University at Buffalo researcher is leading a pilot study to answer that   
   question. The goal is to determine whether behavioral self-management of a   
   painful and common gastrointestinal disorder may lead to fundamental changes   
   in the gut microbiome, the    
   digestive system's bacterial ecosystem.   
      
   The study is being conducted with a subset of patients enrolled in a large,   
   National Institutes of Health-funded study being led by Jeffrey Lackner, PsyD,   
   professor in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and   
   Biomedical Sciences at    
   the University at Buffalo and director of the Behavioral Medicine Clinic. That   
   multicenter study focuses on whether a specific, non-drug treatment -- a   
   cognitive behavior therapy program -- can relieve the often-debilitating   
   symptoms of irritable bowel    
   syndrome (IBS) for which there is no satisfactory medical treatment.   
      
   Diagram of the digestive system.   
   The goal of the pilot study is to determine if the behavioral strategies that   
   IBS patients use to reduce their gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms also lead to   
   changes in the microbial composition in the gut. Credit: BruceBlaus.   
   Lackner has teamed with Kirsten Tillisch, MD, associate professor, and Emeran   
   A. Mayer, MD, PhD, of the Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer Family Center for   
   Neurobiology of Stress at the University of California, Los Angeles, to   
   explore some of the implications    
   of that study. The goal of the pilot study is to determine if the behavioral   
   strategies that IBS patients use to reduce their gastrointestinal (GI)   
   symptoms also lead to changes in the microbial composition in the gut.   
      
   "We know that the gut microbiome can influence neural development, brain   
   chemistry, mood, pain perception and how the stress system responds," said   
   Lackner.   
      
   "Our research has shown that manipulation of the gut microbiota with   
   probiotics can change the way our brain responds to the environment,"   
   explained Tillisch. "Because the brain-gut-microbiota connection is a two-way   
   street, we believe that central or    
   brain-directed treatments like cognitive behavior therapy may reduce GI   
   symptoms by altering the gut microbiota. This really has game-changing   
   implications for how we understand the brain and its impact on the gut and   
   vice versa."   
      
   The two-year study, funded by UB's Office of the Vice President for Research   
   and Economic Development, will involve 30 Western New York patients enrolled   
   in the IBS Outcome Study. That study, known as the IBSOS, is funded by the   
   National Institute of    
   Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the NIH.   
      
   Participants in the study will collect stool samples at home before and after   
   treatment, as well as track their GI symptoms and well-being throughout their   
   participation in the study.   
      
   "This is a unique opportunity to identify the physical basis for why   
   behavioral treatments for IBS work," said Lackner. "It can really help us   
   unravel some of the mystery underlying brain-gut interactions as they relate   
   to a major health problem like IBS.   
    We believe that this research may lead to more focused and effective   
   treatments for IBS and other medical disorders for which there is no   
   satisfactory medical cure."   
      
   ABOUT THIS NEUROLOGY RESEARCH   
   Source: Ellen Goldbaum - University at Buffalo   
   Image Source: The image is credited to BruceBlaus and is licensed CC BY 3.0   
   Original Research: The study is currently being conducted.   
      
      
      
      
   http://neurosciencenews.com/microbiome-behavior-ibs-2954/   
      
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