Author: Abigail Figueroa
Advisor: Kevin Crowthers
Category: First Year – Mass Academy
Abstract: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) impacts around 10 million Americans, causing a decline in emotional well-being and productivity. This project aims to scientifically establish the use of probiotics as potential remedies for depressive symptoms incurred by seasonal changes. While previous studies have shown a link between the state of the gut microbiome and neurological conditions as a result of the gut-brain axis, research is sparse on the investigation of seasonal depression. This is notable because inducing SAD differs from other mental illnesses as it is based on outside factors such as shorter days and extended periods of darkness. To expand upon SAD research and provide a possible method for its alleviation, this study introduces probiotics to the gut microbiome of Drosophila with seasonally-induced depressive symptoms and records whether an improvement in motivation and behavior can be seen. The process began with Drosophila being subjected to conditions simulating the effects of seasonal changes. After this period, acquired depressive symptoms were measured on behavioral assays along with an PCR-derived analysis of the gut microbiome. After the administration of probiotics, results indicate Lactobacillus-acidophilus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus lead to an improvement on the gap-climbing and locomotive assay, due to growth of bacterial diversity and health in the microbiome. The findings directly correlate the improvement of the state of the gut microbiome to improved results on the behavioral assays. This conclusion suggests that introducing these probiotics into the human diet could have a similar positive impact on the microbiome, potentially counteracting seasonal depressive symptoms and improving overall mood and behavior.
UN SDGs:
SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being
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