Resilient people are more mindful and show neural activity in the brain regions associated with improved cognition and the regulation of emotions.
UCLA researchers found resilient people were also better at describing their feelings and had gut microbiome activity associated with a healthy gut.
“In the high resilience individuals there were increased neurological features and functions related to improved emotion regulation and cognition, metabolites and transcriptomes linked to reduced inflammation/gut barrier integrity, non-judgemental, extraversion and mindfulness,” Arpana Gupta, PhD, senior author and co-director of the UCLA Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center told Theravive.
“In the high resilience individuals there were decreased anxiety and depression, perceived stress and neuroticism.”
For their study, the researchers decided to study the brain and gut microbiome in resilient and healthy people who cope well with different forms of stress like social isolation and discrimination. It is believed to be the first study of its kind that examines the relationship between resilience, the brain and the gut microbiome.
“77% of Americans report physical symptoms caused by stress and 33% of Americans report that they are living with extreme stress. This accounts for over $300 billion dollars lost annually in stress-related health care costs and missed work. Whether we experience mental health diagnosis or a physical disorder or not, we all experience stress. Stress can be of any form from infant to adulthood. Stress is linked to onset and progression of disease,” Gupta said.
“Often in medicine we look at the treatment of disease vs prevention. So I wanted to flip the switch and look at the other side of the coin. How can we prevent disease before it even begins? While stress is an inevitable part of life, studying how to handle stress can help prevent developing diseases.”
Untreated stress can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
To undertake their study, the researchers conducted a survey about resiliency with 116 people. They asked them questions related to their trust in their own instincts and their positive acceptance of change.
The participants were then split into two groups: one ranked highly on the resiliency scale one ranked low on the scale.
The participants gave stool samples and had an MRI.
The researchers found that those in the high resiliency group were less likely to judge, were less anxious and depressed, displayed activity in the area of the brain associated with emotional regulation and had better cognition than their peers in the low resiliency group.
The high resiliency group also showed a difference in microbiome activity. They were found to excrete metabolites and gene activity that is associated with a strong and healthy gut barrier as well as low inflammation.
“We controlled for diet in the analyses so it wasn’t due to differences in their diet. However, the results do suggest that we could use diet as a way to book the “resilience phenotype” at the microbiome level. The most influential and easiest way to impact your gut microbiome is through diet. We can support the gut-brain connection by incorporating a balanced and diverse diet rich in fiber, probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants, while minimizing consumption of processed foods, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, excessive alcohol, and antibiotics,” Gupta said.
“Eating diets rich in diverse fruits and vegetables is the best way to support a healthy gut microbiome, I talk about the “ABC’s” (always be counting) in the Netflix documentary “Hack Your Health”, if we can count and get at least 30 different vegetables and fruits per week we will be helping maintain a healthy microbiome. Therefore, by making mindful dietary choices, we can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome and support optimal brain function and mental wellbeing.”
The study authors are excited about their findings, and say future work will investigate whether inventions aimed at increasing resilience could change activity in the brain and microbiome.
“It is exciting, as it provides us with opportunities that could be targeted to help bolster stress tolerance and ease the burden of stress on multiple body systems ultimately improving both health and psychological outcomes,” Gupta said.
“We can focus on prevention of disease by mitigating stress related outcomes and by boosting resilience at both the brain and gut microbiome level.”