Exploring the Gut-Stress Connection

Research regarding the gut-brain axis has been expanding dramatically over the past decade. Accumulating evidence is confirming that there are several key bidirectional communication pathways between the gut and the central nervous system including modulating the immune system, vagus nerve, enteric nervous system, neuroendocrine system, and circulatory system via the production of metabolites, hormones, and neuroactive substances.

It's not surprising then that the gut microbiome can also influence resilience.

New Mental Health Research  

Much of the gut-brain research so far has focused on mood disorders including depression and anxiety; however, new research is expanding into other areas of mental health.

Researchers from the David Geffen School of Medicine set out to determine if the health of the gut-barrier lining influences the level of resilience that a person has. Utilizing MRI scanning,  stool samples, and a resilience questionnaire, the researchers found that study participants who had a healthy gut lining without signs of dysbiosis, were far more resilient than those with poor gut-barrier integrity.

“We also saw that these highly resilient individuals were very mindful with high levels of extroversion, decreased levels of anxiety and depression, and decreased levels of perceived stress and neuroticism,” explained Arpana Church, PhD, who was a part of the research team and is a neuroscientist and co-director of the UCLA Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center. “In addition, I was surprised to see that these highly resilient people were not only calmer, but they were also kinder and more non-judgmental.”

Dr. Church talked about this study and her research in more detail in a recent Natural Medicine Journal Podcast.

Another study published recently by John F. Cryan, PhD, and his colleagues from the University College Cork found that the gut microbiome plays a role in regulating stress by interacting with the body’s circadian rhythms.

“The Cryan group has done it again in eloquently bringing together disparate fields and topics to help us better understand the interplay of stress-circadian systems as they relate to the brain-gut microbiome system,” said Dr. Church. “These results have important implications in better understanding how hyper-activation in the HPA axis drives specific impairments related to the time of day and in turn how this leads to disruptions in the stress response.”

Dr. Church, who was mentored by Dr. Cryan, is excited about the clinical implications of this latest paper. “It is evident that not only how we intervene, but more importantly when we intervene may have significant downstream effects on stress responses and stress-related disorders,” she concluded.

Correcting dysbiosis has been a long-standing focus in integrative medicine. Thanks to this emerging and growing field of research, it is now understood that when the gut microbiome is healthy, so too is mental health including more emotional aspects like stress management.