Eastwood Jessica, van Hemert Saskia, Stolaki Maria, Williams Claire, Walton Gemma, Lamport Daniel
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom.
Winclove Probiotics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Jun;121(6):1268-1280. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.04.002. Epub 2025 Apr 11.
Aging is associated with a decline in cognitive function and vulnerability to depression. Probiotic supplements have shown beneficial effects on cognition and mood in clinical populations, but the potential benefit for healthy older adults experiencing age-related decline in cognition remains unclear.
The primary aim of the present work was to explore the effect of a chronic (long-term) multispecies probiotic intervention on cognition in healthy aging adults. Secondary aims included exploring the chronic effect on mood outcomes and gut microbiota community, as well as a novel investigation into the acute effect of supplementation on cognition and mood.
The study employed a randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial in 30 healthy older adults to explore the acute (1 d) and chronic (8 wk) effects of a probiotic supplement on cognitive domains of memory and executive function, alongside mood measures of stress, anxiety, depression, and cognitive reactivity to sad mood. 16s rRNA sequencing of stool samples was also performed pre- and postchronic intervention to assess potential effects on the gut microbiota.
Acute probiotic supplementation was associated with faster reaction times on cognitively demanding trials during a task of executive function [-64.91 ms, 95% confidence interval (CI): -115.70, -14.15]. Chronic supplementation was associated with improvement in cognitive biases such as hopelessness (-0.97, 95% CI: -1.72, -0.23), rumination (-1.58, 95% CI: -2.86, -0.29), and aggression (-1.57, 95% CI: -2.63, -0.51) that contribute to reactivity to sad mood and therefore vulnerability to depression, and may improve executive function under higher cognitive demand (0.43%, 95% CI: -0.53%, 1.38%).
The current work provides novel evidence for an acute effect of probiotics on reaction times during executive function, which should be replicated in future work. Additionally, this work replicates previous findings of improved cognitive reactivity to sad mood following chronic probiotic supplementation, indicating probiotics may reduce risk of developing depression in a healthy aging population. This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04951687.
衰老与认知功能下降以及易患抑郁症有关。益生菌补充剂已在临床人群中显示出对认知和情绪的有益影响，但对于认知功能出现与年龄相关下降的健康老年人的潜在益处仍不明确。
本研究的主要目的是探讨长期（慢性）多种益生菌干预对健康老年成年人认知的影响。次要目的包括探讨对情绪结果和肠道微生物群落的慢性影响，以及对补充益生菌对认知和情绪的急性影响进行新的研究。
该研究在30名健康老年人中采用随机、安慰剂对照、交叉试验，以探讨益生菌补充剂对记忆和执行功能等认知领域的急性（1天）和慢性（8周）影响，以及压力、焦虑、抑郁等情绪指标和对悲伤情绪的认知反应性。在慢性干预前后还对粪便样本进行16s rRNA测序，以评估对肠道微生物群的潜在影响。
在执行功能任务中，急性补充益生菌与在认知要求较高的试验中反应时间更快相关[-64.91毫秒，95%置信区间（CI）：-115.70，-14.15]。长期补充益生菌与认知偏差的改善有关，如无助感（-0.97，95% CI：-1.72，-0.23）、沉思（-1.58，95% CI：-2.86，-0.29）和攻击性（-1.57，95% CI：-2.63，-0.51），这些认知偏差会导致对悲伤情绪的反应性增加，从而增加患抑郁症的易感性，并且可能在更高的认知需求下改善执行功能（0.43%，95% CI：-0.53%，1.38%）。
目前的研究为益生菌对执行功能期间反应时间的急性影响提供了新的证据，这应在未来的研究中得到重复验证。此外，该研究重复了先前关于长期补充益生菌后对悲伤情绪的认知反应性得到改善的发现，表明益生菌可能降低健康老年人群患抑郁症的风险。本研究已在clinicaltrials.gov注册，注册号为NCT04951687。
