BMC microbiologyAug 2, 2024

How gut bacteria relate to thinking problems caused by long-term stress in mice

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 4, 2026

Abstract

Mice with chronic stress and cognitive deficits showed a significant correlation between the gut bacterium Muricomes and cognitive impairment, with a predictive accuracy of 0.96.

led to reduced movement distances and recognition indices in mice with cognitive deficits compared to those without.
Five gut bacteria genera were found to be significantly different across control, CRS-NCD, and CRS-CD groups.
Muricomes were enriched in mice exhibiting cognitive deficits and were associated with lower cognitive performance.
The gut microbiota composition may play a role in the cognitive deficits observed following chronic stress.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: Chronic stress induces cognitive deficits. There is a well-established connection between the enteric and central nervous systems through the microbiota-gut-brain () axis. However, the effects of the gut microbiota on cognitive deficits remain unclear. The present study aimed to elucidate the microbiota composition in cognitive deficits and explore its potential in predicting chronic stress-induced cognitive deficits.

METHODS: Mice were randomly divided into control and (CRS) groups. The mice subjected to CRS were further divided into cognitive deficit (CRS-CD) and non-cognitive deficit (CRS-NCD) groups using hierarchical cluster analysis of novel object recognition test results. The composition and diversity of the gut microbiota were analyzed.

RESULTS: After being subjected to chronic restraint distress, the CRS-CD mice travelled shorter movement distances (p = 0.034 vs. CRS-NCD; p < 0.001 vs. control) and had a lower recognition index than the CRS-NCD (p < 0.0001 vs. CRS-NCD; p < 0.0001 vs. control) and control mice. The results revealed that 5 gut bacteria at genus levels were significantly different in the fecal samples of mice in the three groups. Further analyses demonstrated that Muricomes were not only significantly enriched in the CRS-CD group but also correlated with a decreased cognitive index. The area under the receiver operating curve of Muricomes for CRS-induced cognitive deficits was 0.96.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that the composition of the gut microbiota is involved in the development of cognitive deficits induced by chronic restraint stress. Further analysis revealed that Muricomes have the potential to predict the development of chronic stress-induced cognitive deficits in mice.

Key numbers

577.9 cm

Decrease in Movement Distance

Movement distance of -CD mice vs. -NCD group

0.25

Lower Recognition Index

Recognition index of -CD mice vs. -NCD group

0.96

AUC for Muricomes

Area under the ROC curve for Muricomes in predicting -induced cognitive deficits

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How gut bacteria relate to thinking problems caused by long-term stress in mice

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