Department of Psychology, Downing Street, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Zoology, Mansfield Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2020 Nov;35(11):972-980. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.06.014. Epub 2020 Jul 28.
Recent research in laboratory animals has illuminated how the vertebrate gut microbiome can have diverse and powerful effects on the brain and behaviour. However, the ecological relevance of this microbiome-gut-brain (MGB) axis outside the laboratory remains unexplored. Here we argue that understanding behavioural and cognitive effects of the gut microbiome in natural populations is an important goal for behavioural ecology that may shed light on the mechanisms and evolution of behavioural plasticity. We outline a toolkit of approaches that could be applied in this endeavour and argue that beyond collecting observational data on the microbiome and behaviour from free-living animals, the incorporation of manipulative approaches tailored to such systems will be a key next step to progress understanding in this area.
最近在实验室动物身上的研究阐明了脊椎动物肠道微生物组如何对大脑和行为产生多样化且强大的影响。然而，该微生物组-肠道-大脑（MGB）轴在实验室之外的生态相关性仍未得到探索。在这里，我们认为，了解自然种群中肠道微生物组对行为和认知的影响是行为生态学的一个重要目标，这可能有助于揭示行为可塑性的机制和进化。我们概述了一套可用于此目的的方法，并认为除了从自由生活的动物身上收集关于微生物组和行为的观察数据外，将针对此类系统定制的操纵方法纳入其中将是该领域取得进展的关键下一步。
