Physiology & Behavior最新文献

{"title":"Gut microbiome is associated with insula structure in neonates","authors":"Michelle Graf ,&nbsp;Nicolas Murgueitio ,&nbsp;Margaret A. Sheridan ,&nbsp;Robert A. Quinn ,&nbsp;Alexander L. Carlson ,&nbsp;Sarah C. Vogel ,&nbsp;Martin A. Styner ,&nbsp;Ann M. Alex ,&nbsp;Rebecca L. Stephens ,&nbsp;Jeff Roach ,&nbsp;Nicole Sagarnaga ,&nbsp;W. Roger Mills-Koonce ,&nbsp;M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril ,&nbsp;Sarah J. Short ,&nbsp;Rebecca C. Knickmeyer ,&nbsp;Cathi B. Propper","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The infant brain and gut microbiome both develop rapidly in early infancy. Growing evidence indicates that the gut microbiome plays a critical role in shaping neurodevelopment early in life, possibly through effects on brain regions involved in affective, interoceptive, and sensory processing. This study used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and whole genome sequencing of fecal samples to examine associations between the gut microbiome and brain structures in infants at 2 weeks of age. We identified significant relationships between specific gut microbiome characteristics and brain volumes in key regions involved in affective, sensory, and interoceptive processing. Our most consistent findings were associations between gut microbiome and insula volume, suggesting that the insula may be particularly sensitive to gut microbiome influences during the neonatal period. Specifically, a significant negative association between insula volume and the abundance of <em>Veillonella</em> was observed. Alpha diversity (Shannon) and functional pathways were also related to insula structure. <em>Enterobacter</em> was negatively associated with thalamus volume. These findings contribute to the growing evidence of a developing gut-brain axis, highlighting links between the gut and brain as early as 2 weeks of age. Future research should investigate the mechanisms by which specific microbial features impact neurodevelopment by way of the insula, as well as explore the potential long-term implications of these early relationships on sensory, interoceptive, and affective processing, and behavioral outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 115001"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144326776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The effects of progesterone administration and pre-training on learning & memory, anxiety-like behaviors, and balance impairments following traumatic brain injury in male rats: The role of neuroinflammation","authors":"Saleh Sadeghi ,&nbsp;Zahra Soltani ,&nbsp;Mohammad Amin Rajizadeh ,&nbsp;Elham Jafari ,&nbsp;Mohammad Khaksari ,&nbsp;Manzumeh Shamsi-Meymandi ,&nbsp;Kayvan Khoramipour","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.115002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common complication in human societies. In previous studies, the effects of exercise and sex hormones alone have been shown to prevent the progression of cerebral edema, oxidative stress, and inflammation after traumatic brain injury (TBI). This study investigated the effects of combined progesterone and exercise after TBI in male rats.</div></div><div><h3>Method</h3><div>In this study, 84 rats were divided into 14 groups (7 groups for behavioral tests and 7 groups for evaluating brain water content and molecular and histological parameters, each group containing 6 rats). The study is grouped as follows: 1) Sham, 2) TBI, 3) Vehicle (Veh) (sesame oil, 1 ml/kg intramuscularly), 4) Progesterone (P) (1.7 mg/kg intramuscularly), 5) Exercise (Ex), 6) Exercise with vehicle (Ex +Veh), 7) Exercise and progesterone (Ex +<em>P</em>). The TBI was induced via the Marmarou setup. Finally, at the end of the study, animals were subjected to behavioral tests (Morris water maze, elevated plus maze, and beam walking). Brain water content and cytokine levels were measured after the animals were sacrificed.</div></div><div><h3>Findings</h3><div>Our results showed that following brain damage, spatial learning, and memory, anxiety, and movement were impaired. Also, the levels of inflammatory cytokines and water content in the animals' brains increased. However, our results showed that prescription of progesterone, exercise, and their combination at all levels could improve the disorders caused.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>According to our findings, it seems that exercise can be a good substitute for progesterone in the recovery of post-traumatic disorders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 115002"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144326778","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fatty acid binding proteins 5 and 7 differentially modulate phenotypic response to acute Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in female mice","authors":"Samantha L. Penman ,&nbsp;Matthew Marion ,&nbsp;John Hamilton ,&nbsp;Grace Clouse ,&nbsp;Nicole M. Roeder ,&nbsp;Yuji Owada ,&nbsp;Yoshiteru Kagawa ,&nbsp;Panayotis K. Thanos","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114999","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114999","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) are important regulatory proteins within the endocannabinoid system (ECS) which have also been implicated as carriers of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The goal of this study was to further characterize how FABPs 5 and 7 interact with THC <em>in vivo</em> using transgenic knockout mice. Mice with or without FABP5 or FABP7 were administered a single 15 mg/kg dose of intraperitoneal injected THC and tested for locomotor activity, change in body temperature, and cataleptic response. Our results indicate that FABP5 deletion resulted in decreased locomotor activity, independent of THC administration, along with standard responses in the body temperature and catalepsy tests. FABP7 global deletion resulted in decreased locomotion in a genotype-dependent manner within the THC-treated groups, as well as genotype-dependent body temperature changes, but similar responses to the catalepsy test. Our findings implicate both FABP5 and FABP7 in the physiological responses to THC, in different manners, and further our understanding of how THC interacts with the ECS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114999"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144302659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preferences for fat, sugar, and oral-sensory food qualities in monkeys and humans","authors":"Fei-Yang Huang (黃飛揚),&nbsp;Fabian Grabenhorst","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114998","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114998","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In humans and other primates, food intake depends on sophisticated, individualized preferences for nutrients and oral-sensory food qualities that guide decision-making and eating behavior. The neural and behavioral mechanisms for such primate-typical food preferences remain poorly understood, despite their importance for human health and their targeting by pharmacological obesity treatments. Here, we review a series of experiments that investigated how the biologically critical properties of foods—their nutrients (sugar, fat, protein) and oral-sensory qualities (viscosity, oral sliding friction)—influence food preferences in monkeys and humans. In an economic nutrient-choice paradigm, macaques flexibly trade nutrients and oral-sensory food qualities against varying food amounts, consistent with the assignment of subjective values. Nutrient-value functions that link objective nutrient content to subjective values accurately model these preferences, predict choices across contexts, and explain individual differences. The monkeys’ aggregated choice patterns resulting from their nutrient preferences lead to daily nutrient balances that deviate from dietary reference points, resembling suboptimal human eating patterns when exposed to high-calorie foods. To investigate the sensory basis underlying nutrient values, we developed novel engineering tools that quantify food textures on oral surfaces, using fresh pig tongues. Oral-texture (i.e., mouthfeel) parameters, including viscosity and sliding friction, were shown to mediate monkeys' preferences for high-fat foods. When translated to human subjects, this approach revealed a neural mechanism for preferring high-fat foods from oral texture in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)—a key reward system of the brain. Importantly, human OFC responses to oral sliding friction in individual subjects—measured in the MRI scanner—predicted subsequent fat intake in a naturalistic, life-like eating test. These findings suggest that a primate nutrient-reward paradigm offers a promising approach for investigating the behavioral and neural mechanisms for human-typical food reward and food choice, to advance understanding of human eating behavior, overeating, and obesity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114998"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144310400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring shifts in attentional bias following satiety: A within-subject eye-tracking study in healthy-weight adults","authors":"Sarah-Marie Feighan ,&nbsp;Katie McArdle ,&nbsp;L. Lisanti ,&nbsp;Edna Roche ,&nbsp;Cathal Ormonde ,&nbsp;Elizabeth Heron ,&nbsp;Clare Kelly ,&nbsp;Ciara Molloy ,&nbsp;Louise Gallagher","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114993","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114993","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hunger and satiety are key physiological states that regulate food intake and contribute to the maintenance of body weight. Identifying appetite phenotypes, such as reduced satiety sensitivity, holds significant potential for developing personalized prevention and treatment strategies for obesity. However, a key challenge in obesity research is the lack of objective, quantitative tools to measure the physiological states of hunger and satiety. We developed the Food Attentional Bias (FAB) task, a novel, free-viewing eye-tracking paradigm designed to capture shifts in attentional bias toward food. In this study, we investigated within-subject changes in attentional bias toward food before and after eating in a cohort of healthy-weight individuals (N=57) using the FAB Task. Our results indicate a marked decrease in dwell time to food stimuli after eating, regardless of BMI, sex, or age. A linear mixed model for relative dwell time revealed a significant interaction effect between the area of interest (AOI) category and meal condition (premeal vs postmeal) on dwell time (F(4, 5538) = 23.011, p &lt; .001). Post hoc comparisons for the AOI * Meal interaction revealed that the dwell times for food AOIs were significantly greater premeal than postmeal (mean difference = 0.070, p &lt; .001). These findings suggest that as the body’s satiety signals increase postmeal, the motivational value of food decreases, leading to a reduction in attentional bias toward food stimuli. This dynamic recalibration of attention may act as an objective physiological marker of satiety, illustrating how internal physiological states influence attention allocation following food consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114993"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144302660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chronic adolescent stress attenuates morphine-induced antinociception and central amygdala neuronal activation in adult Wistar rats","authors":"Hannah D Fulenwider ,&nbsp;Molly M Hyer ,&nbsp;Samya K Dyer ,&nbsp;Chardane Logan ,&nbsp;E Andrew Townsend ,&nbsp;S Stevens Negus ,&nbsp;Matthew L Banks ,&nbsp;Gretchen N Neigh","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114996","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114996","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stress exposure during critical developmental periods has been shown to increase the risk for an array of psychological and physiological pathologies in adulthood, including substance use disorder and chronic pain. Although incompletely understood, studies have suggested that stress alters opioid responses which in turn is associated with increased nociceptive and decreased antinociceptive responsivity. Previous studies demonstrating stress-induced attenuation of morphine antinociception used stress exposure models that included physical injury limiting generalization of the available findings. The aim of the current study was to characterize the effects of chronic adolescent psychosocial stress on morphine-induced antinociception and neuronal activation. Male and female Wistar rats were exposed to chronic adolescent stress (CAS) and tested in adulthood for either antinociceptive response to morphine or morphine-induced expression of cFos in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG). A history of CAS attenuated morphine-induced antinociception in the warm water tail withdrawal test for both sexes, demonstrating an effect of adolescent stress on responses to opioids in adulthood, regardless of sex. Similarly, CAS history caused a blunted response to morphine-induced cFos expression in the CeA, but not in the vlPAG for both sexes. Collectively, these data suggest that CAS exposure renders opioid analgesics less effective, and that this alteration is associated with altered responsivity to opioids in the CeA. Additional work identifying the mechanisms mediating stress-induced changes in opioid signaling are warranted, having the potential to influence pain management strategies for individuals with developmental stress histories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114996"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144302658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Potential effects of long-term nanoselenium administration on memory deficits associated with peripheral neuropathic pain through alteration of hippocampal Tau and proinflammatory cytokines","authors":"Sepideh Saffarpour ,&nbsp;Pargol Sadeghi Tehran ,&nbsp;Behnaz Rahimi ,&nbsp;Farinaz Nasirinezhad","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114990","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114990","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Chronic neuropathic pain is frequently associated with memory disorders linked to hippocampal alteration. Recognizing this co-morbidity could enhance treatment effectiveness. Prior studies have shown that nanoselenium possesses pain-relieving and memory-protecting properties, suggesting its potential in treating neuropathic pain and its associated co-morbidity.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>This study aimed to examine the effects of long-term nanoselenium administration on pain-related behaviors and co-morbid memory disorders in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The study involved 32 adult male albino Wistar rats, divided into four groups: Control, CCI, CCI+nanoselenium, and CCI+vehicle (<em>n</em> = 8, each group). Nanoselenium or vehicle was administered intraperitoneally for two weeks after CCI surgery. Pain-related behavior was assessed using the acetone test and the Randal-Selitto test, while memory-related behavior was evaluated using a passive avoidance (shuttle-box) test. Additionally, the study involved identifying Tau positive cells through an Immunohistochemistry procedure and measuring IL-1 and TNF levels in the hippocampus using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to explore potential relationships.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The data indicated that CCI results in chronic neuropathic pain-related behaviors and memory disorders in rats. Long-term treatment with nanoselenium significantly increased pain threshold (F(1,3)=184.261, <em>P</em> = 0.000), improved memory (F(3,28)=170.726 ,F(3,28)=128.177,F(3,28)=41.552, <em>P</em> = 0.000) and decreased the hippocampal levels of IL-1β (F(3,28)=62.68, <em>P</em> = 0.000), TNFα (F(3,28)=173.12, <em>P</em> = 0.000), and the Tau positive cells/mm³ (F(3,28)=45.26, <em>P</em> = 0.000) in CA1 region in CCI rats.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Long-term administration of nanoselenium ameliorated pain-related behavior and improved memory disorder induced by CCI. This effect was associated with altered pro-inflammatory and Tau protein in the rats' hippocampus.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114990"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144294802","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oxytocin as a modulator of adaptive behavior: integrating ingestive and social mechanisms","authors":"Patience E. Moseley ,&nbsp;Elizabeth A.D. Hammock ,&nbsp;Diana L. Williams","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114992","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114992","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Oxytocin (OXT) is synthesized in the hypothalamus and has well established roles in many physiological functions. OXT acts on G-protein-coupled receptors in the brain to influence a range of adaptive behaviors, including eating, social behavior and closely linked stress-related behaviors. The underlying mechanisms by which OXT influences these behaviors are still not well understood. Recent frameworks suggest that OXT may influence multiple adaptive behaviors at once to promote a contextually appropriate behavioral outcome. It is possible that this highly conserved neuropeptide subserves an evolutionary mechanism to promote behaviors that fulfill current homeostatic need and ultimately to promote survival. Here, we discuss the literature on OXT in ingestive behavior and consider overlapping mechanisms for OXT effects on social behavior. We highlight interactions between OXT and the hypothalamic melanocortin system and mesolimbic dopamine system as potential mechanisms for context-dependent behavioral selection. Finally, we suggest that OXT effects on behavior result at least in part from a positive shift in reward value of the stimuli that will fulfill the strongest homeostatic need at the time. Considering how these systems interact to influence behavior, particularly when multiple competing behavioral outcomes are possible, may facilitate the development of therapeutic targets across ingestive, social, and stress-related behaviors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114992"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144271394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“The Big Three” properties of food that drive intake","authors":"Barbara J. Rolls ,&nbsp;Paige M. Cunningham ,&nbsp;Faris M. Zuraikat","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114994","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114994","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Much of the interest in studying human eating behavior stems from a desire to characterize properties of foods that affect consumption, with the goal of leveraging influential properties to moderate energy intake. We propose that established determinants of intake include “The Big Three”: portion size, energy density, and variety. Over the past several decades, multiple studies have demonstrated a causal relationship between portion size and intake across different participants, settings, and contexts. The robust effect of portion size can be leveraged to moderate intake by increasing the proportion of low-energy-dense dietary components available. Among “The Big Three”, energy density likely plays the most dominant role. Even small reductions in energy density, such as increasing the water content of foods, can lead to reductions in energy intake, and, over time, body weight. In addition, increased food variety can delay satiation by countering the relative hedonic decline of a food as it is consumed (sensory-specific satiety). As a result, exposure to a greater variety of foods increases intake, especially when the sensory properties of the foods served differ from one another. “The Big Three” characterize the current food environment, which is filled with a wide variety of food options, many of which are energy-dense and large in portion size. This review covers early studies assessing the effects of these three food properties on satiation, introduces recent studies, and discusses how this understanding can be applied to moderating energy intake.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114994"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144291415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gut microbiota and behavioral ontogeny in autism spectrum disorder: a pathway to therapeutic innovations","authors":"Akanksha Yadav ,&nbsp;Manasi Tadas ,&nbsp;Mayur Kale ,&nbsp;Nitu Wankhede ,&nbsp;Milind Umekar ,&nbsp;Nandkishor Kotagale ,&nbsp;Brijesh Taksande","doi":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114989","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114989","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multifaceted neurodevelopmental condition characterized by deficits in social communication, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests. Emerging evidence suggests that gut-brain axis a dynamic, bidirectional communication network between gut microbiota and central nervous system, is critical in shaping behavioral ontogeny in ASD. Dysbiosis of gut microbiota, commonly observed in individuals with ASD, has been associated with alterations in neurodevelopmental trajectories and symptom severity. Furthermore, disturbances in maternal microbiome during pregnancy are increasingly recognized as key factors influencing fetal brain development, potentially heightening risk of ASD and behavioral manifestations.</div><div>Mechanistic research reveals that gut-derived metabolites modulate blood-brain barrier integrity, neuroinflammatory processes, and neuronal circuit formation, contributing to behavioral outcomes. These findings emphasize gut microbiota’s profound influence on emergence and progression of ASD-related behaviors. Promising therapeutic strategies, including probiotics, prebiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, and dietary interventions, have demonstrated potential in modulating the gut microbiome and improving behavioral symptoms in ASD. However, challenges such as individual variability in microbiome composition, limited clinical evidence, and an incomplete understanding of causative mechanisms remain significant barriers to clinical translation.</div><div>This review explores the interplay between gut microbiota and ASD-associated behaviors, focusing on key mechanisms such as microbial regulation of neurotransmitter production, immune signaling, and neuroinflammation. It further highlights gut microbiota's potential as a modifiable factor influencing neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes in ASD. By advancing our understanding of gut-brain axis, we can pave the way for personalized and targeted interventions aimed at improving behavioral ontogeny and developmental trajectories in individuals with ASD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20201,"journal":{"name":"Physiology & Behavior","volume":"299 ","pages":"Article 114989"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144286178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}