Browsing by Author "Pesonen, Noora"

Objectives. Recent results of both animal and human studies suggest that intestinal microbiota, i.e. microorganisms inhabiting the gastrointestinal system, may be connected to their host’s cognition. However, the diverse effects of intestinal microbiota are still poorly understood and especially knowledge of its associations with normative childhood cognitive development is very scarce. The purpose of the current study was to examine the possible associations between infant intestinal microbial composition, richness and diversity and cognitive performance in early childhood. Methods. The current study sample consisted of the children taking part in Finnish Health and Early Life Microbiota (HELMi) longitudinal birth cohort study. The cognitive abilities of 424 children were assessed at 2 years of age with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, using cognitive, receptive language and expressive language subscales. Of 424 tested children, those from whom microbiota analysis for at least one fecal sample was available at the time of the start of this study, were included. Fecal samples were collected when infants were 3, 6 and 12 weeks old and 6, 9 and 12 months old, and the bacterial composition, richness and diversity were analyzed with 16S rRNA- amplicon sequencing method. Results and conclusions. Intestinal microbial composition in infancy was found to be related to cognitive abilities of the children, more specifically, receptive language skills and expressive language skills. A higher abundance of the genus Finegoldia at 12 weeks of age and the genus Serratia at 6 months of age were related to worse receptive language performance at 2 years of age. A higher abundance of the family Enterococcaceae at 12 weeks of age and the genus Alistipes at 6 months of age, were associated with worse expressive language skills. In addition, the children who scored in lowest 20th percentile in the receptive language tasks, had richer intestinal microbiota at 3 weeks and 6 months of age. Conclusions cannot yet be drawn based on these preliminary findings, but the results suggest that infant intestinal microbiota may be one of the factors influencing cognitive, especially verbal, development in early childhood.