Figure - PMC

Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

View full-text article in PMC

. 2021 Jun 8;15:682505. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2021.682505

Search in PMC
Search in PubMed
View in NLM Catalog
Add to search

Copyright © 2021 Gars, Ronczkowski, Chassaing, Castillo-Ruiz and Forger.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

PMC Copyright notice

Effects of the microbiota on brain development begin in utero. The maternal gut microbiota exerts effects on fetal brain development indirectly via the production of vitamins and bacterial metabolites, as well as by increasing the energy harvested from food. Microbe-dependent molecules cross the placenta and may reach the fetal brain. Reported effects of the maternal microbiota on fetal brain development include development of the blood brain barrier (BBB), microglial cell number and physiology, and axonogenesis. As a result, perturbations to the maternal microbiota, for example via lifestyle (e.g., diet), illness (e.g., stress or infection) or medical treatment (e.g., antibiotics), may affect offspring brain development.