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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Dev Psychobiol. 2018 Nov 20;61(5):739–751. doi: 10.1002/dev.21806

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Potential mechanistic pathways by which the gut microbiome may influence maturation of the preterm infant brain. Potential communication/connections between gut microbiota and brain that might have implications in preterm infant brain development include immune system modulation, neurotransmitters and/or neuromodulators produced by gut microbiota, alteration of systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation, signaling between CNS and vagus nerve, and regulation intestinal and blood-brain barrier functions.