Topic: Diet, Microbiota, and Brain Health: Unraveling the Gut–Brain Axis in Nutrition and Mental Wellbeing

The gut–brain axis is a complex, bidirectional communication network connecting diet, gut microbiota, and brain health. Dietary components and patterns shape the composition and activity of gut microbial communities, which in turn produce metabolites and signaling molecules that influence cognition, mood, and overall mental wellbeing. This Special Issue welcomes research on how nutrition-driven changes in the microbiota affect brain function and neuropsychiatric health, spanning molecular mechanisms, clinical investigations, and population-based studies using human cohorts, animal models, or in vitro systems.

Topics of interest include:

• Effects of specific nutrients or dietary patterns on gut microbiota composition and function;

• Microbial metabolites influencing brain function and mood;

• Diet-induced microbiota alterations in neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders;

• Mechanisms underlying gut–microbiota–immune–brain interactions;

• Nutritional interventions to improve cognition and mental wellbeing;

• Comparative studies across humans and animal models;

• Clinical and epidemiological research linking diet, microbiota, and brain health.

Gut–brain axis, gut microbiota, diet, microbial metabolites, mental health, cognition, neuropsychiatric disorders, nutritional interventions