Causation Can You Blame Bad Behavior on Your Gut? Science Says Yes (May 2024, n=101) Impact of the gut microbiome composition on social decision-making

Michael Harrop

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The team recruited 101 participants, of which around half were given dietary supplements for seven weeks including both probiotics (so-called "good" bacteria) and prebiotics (nutrients known to promote the colonization of healthy bacteria in our guts). The rest received a placebo treatment. Before and after the intervention, participants gave blood and stool samples and were also subjected to an established behavioral test known as the "ultimatum game."

"Here, with a subtle dietary intervention over the course of seven weeks, we demonstrated for the first time (to the best of our knowledge) a causal effect of changing the gut microbiome on altruistic punishment behavior."

Abstract​

There is increasing evidence for the role of the gut microbiome in the regulation of socio-affective behavior in animals and clinical conditions. However, whether and how the composition of the gut microbiome may influence social decision-making in health remains unknown.

Here, we tested the causal effects of a 7-week synbiotic (vs. placebo) dietary intervention on altruistic social punishment behavior in an ultimatum game. Results showed that the intervention increased participants’ willingness to forgo a monetary payoff when treated unfairly. This change in social decision-making was related to changes in fasting-state serum levels of the dopamine-precursor tyrosine proposing a potential mechanistic link along the gut–microbiota–brain-behavior axis.

These results improve our understanding of the bidirectional role body–brain interactions play in social decision-making and why humans at times act “irrationally” according to standard economic theory.
 
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