The gut microbiota composition is associated with human face recognition

Poster Session C - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Javiera Oyarzun¹ (joyarzun@fas.harvard.edu), Thomas Kuntz², Frederike Stein³, Lila Davachi⁴, Curtis Huttenhowe⁵, Stefan Hofmann⁶, Tilo Kircher⁷, Tim Hahn⁸, Elizabeth Phelps⁹; ¹Harvard University, ²Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, MA, USA, ³Department of Psychology, Columbia University, NY, USA, ⁴Department of Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Germany, ⁵Institute of Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany

Studies in animal models suggest that the gut microbiota can influence memory performance. However, the relationship between commensal gut bacteria and human episodic memory remains largely unexplored. This study investigated this link in 628 participants from the FOR2017 Consortium, who completed a face recognition task and provided stool samples for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Our findings reveal that the overall structure of the gut microbiota (beta diversity) was significantly associated with participants' performance on the task, even after adjusting for common confounds. Both linear regression and machine learning models highlighted a robust relationship between face recognition performance and the relative abundance of the genus Dialister. Specifically, individuals with higher levels of Dialister exhibited poorer face recognition performance. This study, involving a larger sample size than previous human experimental research and examining unmanipulated gut microbiota, demonstrates that individual differences in face recognition are associated with gut microbiota composition, underscoring the potential role of Dialister in human cognitive processes.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Episodic