As we know, thanks to the previous studies shown in class, microbiota influences the body in many ways. The most common microbiome known in the human body is the gastrointestinal microbiota. The microbiome is very influential towards many functions of the intestines. The microbiota may lead to gastrointestinal problems, cancer, allergies, obesity, etc. Having a diminished microbiome in the gut may lead to the risk of many of these factors arising. Seeing that the microbiome in the gut has such an influential impact on the human body, it could also impact the neurological system.

From the readings that I have done, it seems that the brain communicates with the gut microbiome. It seems that the brain can affect the structure and function of the gut microbiota through the autonomic nervous system. Martin, et. al state in The Brain-Gut-Microbiome Axis that the brain does this by, “modulating regional gut motility, intestinal transit and secretion, and gut permeability, and potentially through the luminal secretion of hormones that directly modulate microbial gene expression.” I found it pretty interesting that the communication between gut microbiota and the autonomic nervous system leads to alterations of the gut in the human body.