ReviewJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2020
Annual Research Review: Critical windows - the microbiota-gut-brain axis in neurocognitive development.
Review in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Duodenal microbiota dysbiosis in functional dyspepsia and its potential role of the duodenal microbiota in gut-brain axis interaction: a systematic review.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Functional contribution of the intestinal microbiome in autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and Rett syndrome: a systematic review of pediatric and adult studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- The development of the gut microbiome and temperament during infancy and early childhood: A systematic review.Developmental psychobiology · 2022Pooled it
- Neurodevelopmental outcome of patients with congenital gastrointestinal malformations: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Neonatal enteric infection disrupts the microbiota-gut-brain axis through pattern recognition receptors and altered neuroimmune signaling.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- A protocol for the Teen Bugs study: An integrative, multi-omics approach to understanding the role of the gut microbiome and mesocorticolimbic system in adolescent mental health following early adverse caregiving.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- The Oral-Gut-Brain Axis in Pediatric Populations: The Implications of Oral Dysbiosis for Systemic Inflammation and Neuroinflammation.Nutrients · 2026Review
- The Gut Microbiome in Early Ontogeny: Implications for Brain and Immune System Development.Journal of developmental biology · 2026Review
- From microbes to milestones: Gut bacterial abundances and functional pathways associate with neurodevelopment following preterm birth.Gut microbiology · 2026Article
- Behavioral traits in infancy: associations with gut-brain axis and maternal depression.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Bidirectional relations between the maternal and infant gut microbiome and behavior.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- From Womb to Weaning: Microbial Signals That Shape the Developing Brain.Developmental neuroscience · 2026Review
- Germ-free piglets display variable neuroinflammatory-like perturbations in prefrontal cortical microglia.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Early-life microbiota disruption-induced deficits in the social brain are sensitive to diet.iScience · 2026Article
- Longitudinal study on the relationship between DASH-style dietary pattern and allostatic load in Chinese pregnant women.Nutrition research and practice · 2026Article
- Gut Microbiota Differences in Down Syndrome Are Most Pronounced in Childhood and Diminish With Age.International journal of microbiology · 2026Article
- Commentary: Safety and efficacy of a novel fecal microbiota transplantation method using hydrogen nanobubble water without antibiotics or bowel cleansing in children with autism spectrum disorder.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammation and autism: what have we learned so far?International journal of developmental disabilities · 2026Article
- Maternal docosahexaenoic acid supplementation shapes offspring gut microbiota to modulate the gut-brain axis in a sow-piglet model.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The gut microbiota is a vast, complex, and fascinating ecosystem of microorganisms that resides in the human gastrointestinal tract. As an integral part of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, it is now being recognized that the microbiota is a modulator of brain and behavior, across species. Intriguingly, periods of change in the microbiota coincide with the development of other body systems and particularly the brain. We hypothesize that these times of parallel development are biologically relevant, corresponding to 'sensitive periods' or 'critical windows' in the development of the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Specifically, signals from the microbiota during these periods are hypothesized to be crucial for establishing appropriate communication along the axis throughout the life span. In other words, the microbiota is hypothesized to act like an expected input to calibrate the development of the microbiota-gut-brain axis. The absence or disruption of the microbiota during specific developmental windows would therefore be expected to have a disproportionate effect on specific functions or potentially for regulation of the system as a whole. Evidence for microbial modulation of neurocognitive development and neurodevelopmental risk is discussed in light of this hypothesis, finishing with a focus on the challenges that lay ahead for the future study of the microbiota-gut-brain axis during development.
Indexed as
Identifiers
31773737What OpenQuestion holds
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.