The Role of the Gut-Brain Axis in a Child’s Development

Have you ever felt a flutter of butterflies in your stomach when nervous? Feeling stomach discomfort due to stress? The gastrointestinal tract is sensitive to emotion. Feelings like anger, sadness, anxiety or happiness can trigger symptoms in the gut. These sensations arising from your stomach indicate a connection between your brain and gut and can be explained by understanding the gut-brain axis.

Studies show that our brain affects gut health and gut health affects the brain, which also has an effect to our cognitive abilities.

Cognitive abilities include the following:

1. Perception of our environment through our senses (smell, vision, taste)
2. Drawing our attention to objects and events
3. Storing information in our memory
4. Processing information in our brain (thinking)
5. Processing language (language comprehension)

This article will explore how the bacteria in your child’s gut, which we will refer to as “gut microbiota”, can influence the development of cognitive abilities via the gut-brain axis, and what you can do to help optimize your child's cognitive development.

There is a less-known nervous system in our guts, referred to as “our second brain”.  Together, the brain in our head called “central nervous system” and the brain in our gut called “enteric nervous system”, play a key role on our overall well-being. These two brains communicate primarily via the so-called “gut-brain axis”, a vagus nerve that serves as a “data highway.”

The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication network between the brain and the gut. This means that signals can travel from your brain to your gut and vice versa. 90% of the information flow goes from our gut to the brain. Only 10% provide information in the other direction.

How a Healthy Gut influences a child’s Cognitive Development

Gut microbiota, defined by diversity and abundance of good gut microbiota plays an important role in supporting a child’s cognitive development through the gut-brain axis. It also helps regulate many aspects of our health, including metabolism, immune response, learning, memory processes, mood, and even the behavior of a child.

Studies show that 95% of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that plays a central role in cognitive development, regulation of mood, and reaction to stress,  is produced in the gut, not in the brain. This means that an imbalance in your child’s gut microbiota (which produces serotonin) can affect their cognitive development and behavior.

While many factors lead to optimal health during childhood development, an important factor is ensuring proper gut health to support cognitive development.

Factors that affect a Child’s Gut Health

We now know that the gut microbiota can positively or negatively influence cognitive development via the gut-brain axis. Here are some factors that affect gut microbiota.

Mode of Delivery

The intestinal microbiota of newborns is composed of microbes of maternal intestinal and vaginal flora, which are transferred during a vaginal birth. Children born by cesarean section do not benefit from the maternal transfer of these beneficial maternal microbes.

Studies show that CS-born children have a higher risk of e.g. allergies, asthma, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, associated with the unfavorable gut microbiota at birth leading to impaired maturation of their immune system.

Several studies confirm that the mode of delivery can influence social and cognitive abilities via the gut-brain axis.

Stress

Stress causes changes in your digestive system that can impact how well it works – especially if you're already dealing with leaky gut syndrome from too much sugar or not enough fiber in your diet. The gut microbiota plays an important role in the association between early life stress, neurocognitive development, and mental health. A well-developed intestinal microbiota can contribute to stress resistance. However, an unbalanced one can make a person more susceptible to stress.

The interaction between the gut microbiota and stress is of course not a one-way street. Stress can also change the composition of intestinal microbiota.

In addition to this, stress also affects your child's cognitive development by increasing levels of cortisol (the primary stress hormone), which may lead to difficulties in learning and remembering and may alter how information is stored and recalled across various memory systems.

Weaning food

While breastfeeding exclusively is recommended for the first six months, the introduction of weaning foods becomes important as the child grows.

From birth to 1-3 years old, the diversity of the microbiota significantly increases. This diversity is influenced by the introduction of weaning foods. When introducing solids, it is important to do it step by step into your child’s meal plan and prioritize nutritious options that support the child's growth and development.

The gut-brain axis is interconnected, affecting metabolism, immune response, cognitive development, and mood through the gut-brain axis. A healthy gut microbiota, marked by its richness and diversity, is crucial for gut health and can be shaped by factors such as mode of delivery breastfeeding, and weaning foods. Give your child the right start support by focusing on their gut health. Consult with healthcare professionals to tailor a plan to your child’s needs.

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