About this Research Topic
The microbiota plays surprising roles in brain development and human behavior along with angiogenesis. C. albicans, for example, has the ability to activate epithelial Mitogen-Activated-Protein-Kinase (MAPK) and Extracellular signal-Regulated Kinase (ERK) signaling pathways, which both play a role in tissue growth, loss of E-cadherin and occludin, and thus activation of angiogenesis. Nevertheless, there is a limited understanding of the role of the microbiota and its associated dysbiosis in the biology of neurocognitive disorders as well as in the predisposition to cognitive decline, dementia, and the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Through the new paradigm of the developmental origins of health and disease, the microbial exposures during the highly plastic period of early life, when the human microbiome is seeded including the microbiota and the mycobiota, can program the individual risk of developing chronic diseases later in life including neurocognitive disorders.
While the microbiota, especially the mycobiome, could be one of the key factors to consider in the prevention and/or improvement of neurocognitive disorders, especially from this developmental point of view, further research is still needed, and the first step towards this goal is to establish consensus methodologies and to facilitate comparative analysis between different studies.
Studies characterizing the human microbiota, especially the mycobiome, the metabolites it produces, its metagenome, and host proteins during human development could shed light on its role in the identification and prediction of chronic diseases including neurocognitive and behavioral disorders. Different methodological approaches could be used ranging from original articles and reviews to experimental studies and studies based on machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches.
While the microbiota, especially the mycobiome, could be one of the key factors to consider in the prevention and/or improvement of neurocognitive disorders, especially from this developmental point of view, further research is still needed, and the first step towards this goal is to establish consensus methodologies and to facilitate comparative analysis between different studies.
Studies characterizing the human microbiota, especially the mycobiome, the metabolites it produces, its metagenome, and host proteins during human development could shed light on its role in the identification and prediction of chronic diseases including neurocognitive and behavioral disorders. Different methodological approaches could be used ranging from original articles and reviews to experimental studies and studies based on machine learning and artificial intelligence approaches.
Keywords: Developmental disorders, Dysbiosis, Metagenomics, Mycobiota, Neurocognition
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