Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34435164›Full record

ArticleHuman microbiome journal2020

Gut microbiome composition and diversity are related to human personality traits.

Katerina V-A Johnson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human microbiome journal, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 102 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
102citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

102 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Microbiome and well-being: a meta-analysis.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025
    Pooled it
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  3. Nutraceuticals in Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Pooled it
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  6. The island biology of the host microbiome.Trends in microbiology · 2026
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42 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Katerina V-A JohnsonUniversity of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology, New Radcliffe Building, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford OX2 6GG, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The gut microbiome has a measurable impact on the brain, influencing stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and social behaviour. This microbiome-gut-brain axis may be mediated by various mechanisms including neural, immune and endocrine signalling. To date, the majority of research has been conducted in animal models, while the limited number of human studies has focused on psychiatric conditions. Here the composition and diversity of the gut microbiome is investigated with respect to human personality. Using regression models to control for possible confounding factors, the abundances of specific bacterial genera are shown to be significantly predicted by personality traits. Diversity analyses of the gut microbiome reveal that people with larger social networks tend to have a more diverse microbiome, suggesting that social interactions may shape the microbial community of the human gut. In contrast, anxiety and stress are linked to reduced diversity and an altered microbiome composition. Together, these results add a new dimension to our understanding of personality and reveal that the microbiome-gut-brain axis may also be relevant to behavioural variation in the general population as well as to cases of psychiatric disorders.

Indexed as

Gut microbiomeHuman personalityMetagenomicsMicrobiome–gut–brain axisSocial behaviour

Identifiers

PMID34435164
PMCPMC8336012

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.