Researchers at the University of Oxford establish a link between the presence of intestinal bacteria and certain personality traits.
The state of our microbiota, that is to say the bacteria that populate our intestines, can influence our health. Development of cancer, depression, but also protection against food allergies or even… Shaping of our personality. In any case, this is what a new study, published in the journal Human Microbiome Journal.
Researchers from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) analyzed samples of faeces from 655 people from different countries. They determined the number of different families of bacteria. In parallel, each participant answered a questionnaire on his way of life, his personality.
The more sociable we are, the more our microbiota is populated
Thanks to this, the scientific team was able to make several observations. First, people who have an active social life tend to have a more diverse microbiota. The cause would be that close contact with different people would favor the introduction of new bacteria. This transfer is beneficial because a diverse gut ecosystem is correlated with better health. The current study, led by Dr. Katerina Johnson, is the first to establish a link between sociability and gut diversity. However, this trend had already been observed in primates.
Are bacteria the cause of our personality?
However, the population of our gut microbiome would shape our personality, not the other way around. “It has been found that if you colonize an aggressive mouse with the gut bacteria of a shy mouse, the temperament of the first mouse becomes more similar to the one from which the gut bacterial transplant originated, describes Katerina Johnson. Therefore, in terms of personality traits, it is a credible hypothesis that gut microbes may play a causal role.”
In addition, Katerina Johnson discovered that gut bacteria associated with autism may also have an effect on the sociability of neurotypical people, that is, people who do not have autism spectrum disorders. If this study suggests that we may one day be able to alter certain aspects of our personality via the gut, future studies should be conducted. They are still few to focus on the adult human population.
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