The NeuroBiota lab studies the interactions between the microbial community of the gastrointestinal track and the central nervous system, known as the microbiota-gut-brain axis. A very exciting, fast-growing field of research.

Our focus is direct interactions between gut-bacterial signals and brain neurons. Ilana has shown, in her post-doc, that microbe-derived compounds are found in the brain and are able to influence neuronal activity. Moreover, some of these interactions are sex- and age-dependent (Gabanyi et al., Science 2022).

• Which factors (e.g. hormones) influence the neuronal response to bacterial products?
• How and which bacterial signals are able to reach the brain and alter neuronal activity?
• What are the downstream responses to these bacterial-induced neuronal alterations?

The research team combines techniques from different fields, including 3D brain imaging, microbial sequencing, and transgenic mice, to dissect the mechanisms of microbiota-neuron crosstalk.

Funding