ArticleThe European journal of neuroscience2016
Adult microbiota-deficient mice have distinct dendritic morphological changes: differential effects in the amygdala and hippocampus.
Article in The European journal of neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 179 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
179 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 336 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gut-brain axis and neuroplasticity in health and disease: a systematic review.La Radiologia medica · 2025Pooled it
- The microbiota-gut- hippocampus axis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Is there a dysbiosis in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder compared to controls over the course of development? A systematic review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- The Microbiota, the Gut and the Brain in Eating and Alcohol Use Disorders: A 'Ménage à Trois'?Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2017Pooled it
- Gut bacteria and their metabolites may influence our decisions, intelligence, cognition, and consciousness.Gut microbes · 2026Review
- The Adolescent Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis: Development, Mechanisms, and Translational Perspectives.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Mapping gene expression across the microbiome-gut-brain axis of germ-free and specific pathogen-free mice.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Maternal and infant gut microbiome.iMeta · 2026Review
- Social isolation during adolescence alters novel object recognition memory, brain and gut gene expression, and microbiota composition in a sex-specific manner.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Ontogeny: Implications for Brain and Immune System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2026Review
- Impact of captivity on gut microbiota, tracheal microbiota and metabolic pathways in wild chipmunks.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Mental health and gut-brain crosstalk: implications for depression and Alzheimer's disease.Neuroscience applied · 2026Review
- Microbiome modulation and behavioural improvements in children with fragile X syndrome following probiotic intake: A pilot study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- How the gut microbiome shapes learning and memory: A comprehensive review.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2025Review
- Article
- Association between gut microbiota dysbiosis and perioperative neurocognitive disorder and postoperative complications after valve replacement surgery: a prospective cohort study.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Article
- Bidirectional crosstalk between the gut microbiota and cellular compartments of brain: Implications for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders.Translational psychiatry · 2025Review
- Consensus statement on exploring the Nexus between nutrition, brain health and dementia prevention.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Review
- Maternal Stress and Maternal Microbiome Manipulations Remodel Offspring Medial Prefrontal Cortex in a Sex-Dependent Manner.Developmental neurobiology · 2025Article
119 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Increasing evidence implicates the microbiota in the regulation of brain and behaviour. Germ-free mice (GF; microbiota deficient from birth) exhibit altered stress hormone signalling and anxiety-like behaviours as well as deficits in social cognition. Although the mechanisms underlying the ability of the gut microbiota to influence stress responsivity and behaviour remain unknown, many lines of evidence point to the amygdala and hippocampus as likely targets. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine if the volume and dendritic morphology of the amygdala and hippocampus differ in GF versus conventionally colonized (CC) mice. Volumetric estimates revealed significant amygdalar and hippocampal expansion in GF compared to CC mice. We also studied the effect of GF status on the level of single neurons in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and ventral hippocampus. In the BLA, the aspiny interneurons and pyramidal neurons of GF mice exhibited dendritic hypertrophy. The BLA pyramidal neurons of GF mice had more thin, stubby and mushroom spines. In contrast, the ventral hippocampal pyramidal neurons of GF mice were shorter, less branched and had less stubby and mushroom spines. When compared to controls, dentate granule cells of GF mice were less branched but did not differ in spine density. These findings suggest that the microbiota is required for the normal gross morphology and ultrastructure of the amygdala and hippocampus and that this neural remodelling may contribute to the maladaptive stress responsivity and behavioural profile observed in GF mice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.