Gut microbiome and brain functional connectivity in infants-a preliminary study focusing on the amygdala

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the possibility that microbial communities inhabiting the human gut could affect cognitive development and increase risk for mental illness via the “microbiome-gut-brain axis.” Infancy likely represents a critical period for the establishment of these relationships, as it is the most dynamic stage of postnatal brain development and a key period in the maturation of the microbiome. Indeed, recent reports indicate that characteristics of the infant gut microbiome are associated with both temperament and cognitive performance. The neural circuits underlying these relationships have not yet been delineated. To address this gap, resting-state fMRI scans were acquired from 39 1-year-old human infants who had provided fecal samples for identification and relative quantification of bacterial taxa. Measures of alpha diversity were generated and tested for associations with measures of functional connectivity. Primary analyses focused on the amygdala as manipulation of the gut microbiota in animal models alters the structure and neurochemistry of this brain region. Secondary analyses explored functional connectivity of nine canonical resting-state functional networks. Alpha diversity was significantly associated with functional connectivity between the amygdala and thalamus and between the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula. These regions play an important role in processing/responding to threat. Alpha diversity was also associated with functional connectivity between the supplementary motor area (SMA, representing the sensorimotor network) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Importantly, SMA-IPL connectivity also related to cognitive outcomes at 2 years of age, suggesting a potential pathway linking gut microbiome diversity and cognitive outcomes during infancy. These results provide exciting new insights into the gut-brain axis during early human development and should stimulate further studies into whether microbiome-associated changes in brain circuitry influence later risk for psychopathology

Long-range Angular Correlations On The Near And Away Side In P-pb Collisions At √snn=5.02 Tev

7191/Mar294

Neutral pion and η meson production in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV

Neutral pion and η meson invariant differential yields were measured in non-single diffractive p–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. The analysis combines results from three complementary photon measurements, utilizing the PHOS and EMCal calorimeters and the Photon Conversion Method. The invariant differential yields of π0 and η meson inclusive production are measured near mid-rapidity in a broad transverse momentum range of 0.3<pT<20GeV/c and 0.7<pT<20GeV/c, respectively. The measured η/ π0 ratio increases with pT and saturates for pT > 4 GeV / c at 0.483 ± 0. 015 stat± 0. 015 sys. A deviation from mT scaling is observed for pT< 2 GeV / c. The measured η/ π0 ratio is consistent with previous measurements from proton-nucleus and pp collisions over the full pT range. The measured η/ π0 ratio at high pT also agrees within uncertainties with measurements from nucleus–nucleus collisions. The π0 and η yields in p–Pb relative to the scaled pp interpolated reference, RpPb, are presented for 0.3 < pT< 20 GeV / c and 0.7 < pT< 20 GeV / c, respectively. The results are compared with theoretical model calculations. The values of RpPb are consistent with unity for transverse momenta above 2 GeV / c. These results support the interpretation that the suppressed yield of neutral mesons measured in Pb–Pb collisions at LHC energies is due to parton energy loss in the hot QCD medium. © 2018, CERN for the benefit of the ALICE collaboration

Relative particle yield fluctuations in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

First results on K / \u3c0, p / \u3c0 and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in Pb--Pb collisions at 1asNN=2.76TeV. The observable \u3bd dyn , which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for p / \u3c0 show a change of sign in \u3bd dyn from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and \u3bd dyn exhibits a change in sign for p / \u3c0 and K/p