Topic

Prof. José Manuel Fernández-Real from Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Girona, Hospital Trueta de Girona, and the University of Girona, Spain will join the meeting and present a talk entitled "Gut Microbiome and Cognitive Domains: Therapeutic Insights from the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis" during the congress.

Summary 

The microbiota-gut-brain connection has emerged as a novel target in cognition, an area with limited therapeutic efficacy. Until recently, the field was dominated by preclinical studies or underpowered research focused on major cognitive disorders, without addressing the functionality of the microbiome, its compositional nature, or confounding factors. In our studies (1-8), we applied a multi-omics approach combining preclinical models with different human cohorts, including individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Microbial functions and metabolites, particularly those related to glutamate/GABA, tyrosine and proline metabolism were linked to cognition and depressive states. Alterations in global brain dynamics studied by functional magnetic resonance imaging were associated with both cognitive deficits and circulating concentrations of different metabolites. In mice, supplementation with some metabolites determined changes in cognitive deficits and/or depressive states. In addition, transplantation of human microbiota induced emotional and cognitive alterations in mice and modified genes of the prefrontal cortex. In Drosophila, RNAi-mediated inhibition of different genes, together with mono-association with some bacteria, also determined changes in cognition. In summary, directing efforts towards changes in the microbiome through variations in diet composition may open new opportunities and add complementary strategies in the treatment and/or prevention of cognitive impairment.

First Conjoint Meeting between ISM and RIKEN,
October 8-9, 2025 - Tokyo, Japan
www.microbiota-ism.com/tokyo/

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