Prebiotics and the Mind: Exploring Connections to Mental Health and Psychiatric Outcomes
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2026 | Viewed by 158
Special Issue Editors
Interests: nutritional psychiatry; gut-brain axis; inflammation; personalized medicine; gut permeability; lifestyle psychiatry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: exercise physiology; physical activity; exercise science; exercise testing; muscle; inflammation; strength & conditioning; exercise intervention; mental health; mental illness
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The relationship between prebiotics and mental health has gained increasing attention, particularly within the framework of the gut–brain (gut–microbiota–brain) axis. Emerging evidence suggests that dietary prebiotics may influence mood, depressive symptoms, and stress-related outcomes, indicating their potential role as a supportive strategy for mental health and as an adjunctive therapy in psychiatric disorders.
Most existing research has focused on mood and anxiety symptoms, often emphasizing probiotics rather than prebiotics. Evidence regarding the effects of prebiotics in psychiatric populations and individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders remains limited. Although dietary prebiotics may exert broad effects on emotional and stress responses, current findings are inconsistent. These discrepancies likely result from heterogeneous study designs, differences in prebiotic type, dosage, duration of intervention, and interindividual variability in gut microbiota composition, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions.
While promising results have been reported in adults, the impact of prebiotics on mental health outcomes in children and adolescents is still underexplored and requires further investigation.
This Special Issue aims to highlight the effects of prebiotics on mental health and psychiatric outcomes in both healthy individuals and patients with psychiatric disorders, with a particular emphasis on their role as adjunctive therapy. Studies exploring underlying mechanisms of action within the gut–brain axis are especially welcome. We invite original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses from both human and experimental studies.
Dr. Joanna Rog
Dr. Andrew McKune
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- prebiotics
- gut-brain axis
- mental health
- nutritional psychiatry
- gut microbiome
- mood disorders
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