Consumption of Fermented Milk Product With Probiotic Modulates Brain Activity
Gastroenterology. 2013 Jun; 144(7): 10.1053/j.gastro.2013.02.043.
In healthy women, chronic ingestion of a fermented milk product with probiotic resulted in robust alterations in the response of a widely distributed brain network to a validated task probing attention to negative context. FMPP intervention-related changes during the task were widespread, involving activity reductions in brain regions belonging to a sensory brain network (primary interoceptive and somatosensory cortices, and precuneus), as well as frontal, prefrontal, and temporal cortices,
parahippocampal gyrus, and the PAG. In addition, FMPP ingestion was associated with connectivity changes within a PAG centered resting-state network that included interoceptive, affective, and prefrontal regions. Based on reported findings in rodent studies, one might speculate that these changes are either induced by altered vagal afferent signaling to the NTS and connected brain regions via the PAG, or by systemic metabolic changes related to FMPP intake.36,54 These changes were not
observed in a nonfermented milk product of identical taste, thus the findings appear to be related to the ingested bacteria strains and their effects on the host.
In addition to their well-characterized local effects on the gut epithelium, gut immune function, and on the enteric nervous system, long-distance effects of the micro-biota on the liver, adipose tissue, and brain have been reported.
