Do you see a time when probiotics/prebiotics may be a first-line intervention for conventional psychiatry?

By Jane Foster, PhD

As a scientist interested in microbe-host interactions and the impact of this system on brain development and mental health, I look forward to a time when probiotics/prebiotics are clearly indicated as beneficial treatments in conventional psychiatry. Advances in our understanding of the molecular entities and the signaling pathways by which microbes communicate with and shape host gut physiology, metabolism, and mental health will pave the way to more microbiota-targeted interventions for psychiatry.