Reward, the environment, and the gut
The environment has an enormous impact on the brain and behavior throughout development
and adulthood, including reward-driven behaviors that are central to many neuropsychiatric
disorders. Reciprocally, individual differences in the brain and behavior dictate how we relate to
the environment. This bidirectional relationship is mediated by the gastrointestinal tract, which
acts as a gatekeeper for many of the environmental influences on the body. The gut microbiota,
the population of bacteria that populate the gastrointestinal tract, mediates aspects of
several known environmental risk factors for neuropsychiatric disorders including stress, toxin or
pollutant exposure, maternal infection during pregnancy, and exposure to substances of abuse such
as alcohol. Yet, the role of the gut microbiota in reward-driven behaviors is poorly understood.
Elucidation of this role will be critical to advance the development of novel, individualized
therapeutic targets for neuropsychiatric disorders marked by dysregulated reward-driven behaviors.
My research bridges these areas through investigation of the role of the gut in
environmental determinants of individual differences in reward-driven behaviors. Here, I will
discuss findings from my work that highlight relationships between these components using alcohol
as an example environmental factor, manipulation of the gut microbiota, and fine-grained assessment
of individualized signatures of reward-driven behaviors in mice. My ongoing and future work further
integrate these three domains with the goal of elucidating novel mechanisms and therapeutic targets
for neuropsychiatric disorders marked by dysregulated
reward-driven behavior.