Modulation of gut microbiome in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review.

Background And Aims: Microbiota plays an essential role in maintaining body health, through positive influences on metabolic, defensive, and trophic processes and on intercellular communication. Imbalance in intestinal flora, with the proliferation of harmful bacterial species (dysbiosis) is consistently reported in chronic illnesses, including neurodegenerative diseases (ND). Correcting dysbiosis can have a beneficial impact on the symptoms and evolution of ND.

Neuroanatomical correlates of negative emotionality-related traits: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Two central traits present in the most influential models of personality characterize the response to positive and, respectively, negative emotional events. Negative emotionality (NE)-related traits are linked to vulnerability to mood and anxiety disorders; this has fuelled a special interest in examining stable differences in brain morphology associated to these traits. Structural imaging methods including voxel-based morphometry, cortical thickness analysis and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have yielded inconclusive and sometimes contradictory results.

Neural substrate of the cognitive and emotional interference processing in healthy adolescents.

Emotion regulation is essential for adaptive functioning and social integration. However, it is not clear to what extent the responsible brain mechanisms are similar to those invoked in cognitive control in a non-emotional context. The aim of this study was to compare the neural circuitry of cognitive and emotional interference resolution in healthy adolescents, employing variants of the counting Stroop task.

The complex minds of teenagers: neuroanatomy of personality differs between sexes.

Extraversion and neuroticism influence behaviour and mood. Extreme expressions of these personality traits may predispose individuals to developing chronic functional pains and mood disorders that predominantly affect women. We acquired anatomical MRI scans and personality scores from healthy male and female adolescents and measured gray matter volume (GMV) and cortical thickness to test the hypothesis that neuroticism and extraversion contribute to sex differences in fronto-limbic cortical development during a crucial period of social and biological maturation.