Study links gut bacteria composition to subclinical psychopathic traits

In a newly released, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, researchers from the University of Porto investigated whether gut and oral microbiota are associated with subclinical psychopathic traits. Led by Carolina Costa, the study collected blood, saliva and fecal samples from 200 adults who answered a psychopathy-focused questionnaire. Analysis revealed that participants with higher psychopathy scores had greater amounts of Allisonella, Prevotella and C. evryensis, while T. vincentii was less prevalent.

Metabolic markers such as fecal glucose and taurine also correlated positively with the trait scores. The authors suggest possible links between these microbes, inflammation and brain regions involved in emotion processing, but caution that the sample size is modest, the data are self-reported, and the relationship may be bidirectional. Consequently, the research calls for larger, controlled studies to determine whether gut bacteria influence psychopathic behavior or vice versa.