Brain health is the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains that allows a person to realise their full potential in life.

Over 1 in 3 people are affected by neurological conditions, making brain disorders one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.

Brain health is a medical priority and requires an equitable approach that prioritises raising awareness, early intervention and reducing risk factors by leading pioneering research on the role the gut-immune-brain axis plays in brain health.

The brain is connected to the gut through the gut-immune-brain axis.

Why does brain health matter and how is it studied?

Brain health matters because it helps control our memory, senses, mood, behaviours and movement.

Health conditions affecting the brain and the nervous system can emerge throughout our lifetime, from congenital (at birth) to neurodevelopmental conditions, disrupting brain growth, damaging the brain structure and impairing these brain functions.

Brain conditions also include autism, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease. These conditions are currently being studied using a holistic approach to understand the role the gut-immune-brain axis may play.

It’s important that conditions impacting brain health are studied across multiple disciplines, from neurology through to microbiology, to promote, prevent, treat and care for people and their families. There is not one simple solution for complex brain-related conditions.

How is brain health connected to the gut?

We coexist and interact with trillions of microorganisms including fungi, viruses, bacteria living in our gut. This gut microbiome is thought to impact brain development and behaviour through the gut-immune-brain axis.

The gut-immune-brain axis is the communication network that connects our brain to our gut, the cells in our body, our nervous system and our immune system.

Imbalances in the gut microbiome are often linked to immunological and neurological conditions and, as such, the gut-immune-brain axis (GIBA) may have major implications for understanding brain conditions and human health.

Studying brain health through the gut-immune-brain axis lens for better health outcomes

We’re part of the UK Gut-Immune-Brain Axis Network+, a network that brings together experts and pioneers within the GIBA field. This interdisciplinary community is advancing our understanding of physical, cognitive and mental health.

Working Group 1 is investigating the links between the gut-immune-brain axis and cognition, mood and mental health across the lifecourse. Working Group 2, which is co-led by Quadram Institute Early Career Group Leader Dr Aimee Parker, focuses on how interactions between the gut, the immune system and the brain are involved in the development of neurodegeneration in the context of ageing.

Dr Aimee Parker is working to understand how the gut microbiota plays a role in protecting against age-associated conditions linked to inflammation in the gut, the brain and the eye. By understanding what components of the microbiota contribute to this protection and working out how they regulate gut-immune-brain communication, the hope is to be able to develop ways of modifying the gut microbes to protect against cognitive and visual decline in later life.

The Gut-Immune-Brain Axis Network+ connects different researchers across the UK

During the Birmingham Working Group Meeting, I interviewed researchers across both of these working groups and asked them to explain their research in the field.

Lewis Hepburn, a doctoral researcher at Leeds Beckett University, works across the Human Behavioural Neuroscience Lab and the Carnegie School of Sport. His research investigates the role of the gut-brain axis in sleep, cognitive function and cardiometabolic health. His current work utilises probiotic supplementation to improve cognitive performance, neurovascular function, and cardiometabolic health.

Ashley Bell, a post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College London, works as a bioinformatician and molecular biologist using genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data to study the gut microbiome. His work aims to identify biomarkers linked to autism spectrum disorder.

James Conway, a research fellow at the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, works on alpha-synuclein, the protein linked to Parkinson’s disease, and how it may originate in the gut and spread to the brain via the immune system. He is the co-lead of the UK GIBA network’s working group on ageing and neurodegeneration and runs the Patient and Public Involvement group in collaboration with Parkinson’s UK to directly involve people affected by Parkinson’s with his work.

The future of brain health research is through the gut

Researchers across the UK are working to understand the GIBA’s role in neurological conditions, which promises better health outcomes for the many individuals affected by brain disorders. This current research showcases the expansive work within this field.

The GIBA+ Network has three more working groups which characterise the various cell types of the GIBA, explore how the brain and gut communicate to shape eating behaviours and investigate the links between nutrition, the gut microbiota and GIBA.

Importantly, this research provides hope for prevention, healthcare and management for conditions affecting the brain.

This blog was written by Dr Gab Astorga, a recent graduate student from the Quadram Institute and award-winning science communicator who works as Communications and Impact Specialist within the UK GIBA Network+.