The Human Microbiome and Personality Traits

Abrar Hussain

International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi Pakistan

E-mail: abrarhussain0307@gmail.com

Microorganisms have a ubiquitous distribution and are found in all environmental niches with different capacities and concentrations, making an approximate number of 159,000 species. Bacteria, fungi, algae, viruses, etc. are different types of microorganisms that contribute to different processes. Before the identification of their biotechnological applications, these were considered pathogens, and everyone tried to stay away from them. It’s just the game of a few centuries that changed the whole paradigm, and a large population shifted to use them as positively as possible. Probiotics, which are live microorganisms with beneficial properties, are just a glimpse of this potential. It’s the glory of genetic techniques and biotechnology—the combinatorial approach that both enhanced their usage and identified new applications, besides understanding their proper nature and potential. The collection of microorganisms associated with one particular object is called the microbiome, or microbiota. As described, these microbes are also found in humans, with full pros and cons.

Humans, which are the cream of creation and the most advanced creatures of ALLAH (GOD) in the universe, are the most important integrity of anything, anytime, and anywhere. Diving deep into the human body just reflects the intricate nature, super coordination, and extreme advanced systems. Any minute disturbance can have a huge impact on the whole body. Now it’s the power of thrilling thirst that shows how someone interlinked the two extremes—the human and the microorganisms. It’s the fact that the human body is like a ball diving in a sea of microorganisms, with approximately one human cell per 10 microorganisms. Just for curiosity, the human gut microbiota has 10¹⁴ microbes with 1000 different species, and hence the game starts over here.

Looking critically and asking a question, can this sea of microbes in and/or on the human body have nothing to do with the physiology, psychology, and behavior of the individual? Honestly, the answer is no; these microorganisms played a pivotal role in the mentioned domains of a person's life. Its mow experimentally validated that gut microbiota play a significant role in the physiological status of the animals. The concept of gut-brain axis arises from another mind-blowing research study in which gut microorganisms signify their value in brain and mind functions. Advancing more, these microbes, which are generally called psychobiotics, have potential effects on the treatment of neuropsychological disorders and help with cognition.

Scientifically, it has now been shown that different personality traits are associated with the presence of different microorganisms in the gut. In research, it was identified that both gut microbiome composition and diversity are related to differences in personality like sociability and neuroticism. For instance, it was documented that a person with a large social circle had a diverse microbiome with good health, in contrast to a depressed person, who had lower microbial diversity. Likewise, mood, behavior, stress, and other cognitive functions are affected by the gut microbiota and thus reflect personality traits. Likely, the skin microbiota, which also has diverse bacteria, can affect the appearance of a person. Currently, the modern living style of fewer interactions may create dysbiosis in the gut, thus leading to different consequences. 

In conclusion, both humans and microorganisms are the unique creatures of ALLAH, the one with the most sophisticated and complex nature, while the other with the extreme small size and simplest structure. Although both are crucial and utmost important for each other and greatly affect one another’s functions. 

References and further readings

1.       Hussain, A., Rahman, M., Bibi, T., Fatima, R., Arif, I., Barwant, M. M., & Ali, S. A. (2024). Prevalence of Microorganisms in Indoor Household Environ-ments and their Pathogenesis.

2.       Johnson, K. V. A. (2020). Gut microbiome composition and diversity are related to human personality traits. Human Microbiome Journal, 15, 100069.

3.       https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378625269_The_Friendly_Microbes_the_Probiotics

4.       https://abrarhussain0307.blogspot.com/

5.       http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19473.20325