Differences in microbiome due to birth mode does not affect cardiac interoceptive signal processing

The microbiome may play an important role for an adequate
or disrupted brain- body communication. For example,
the microbiome communicates with the central
nervous system (CNS) via visceral afferent nerves, thereby
potentially enhancing activation and connectivity in the
interoceptive brain network (IBN). Nevertheless, it remains
unclear if the microbiome also affects the processing
and perception of afferent signals from other organdomains, such as the cardiovascular system. Children born
through caesarean section (CS) typically show a reduced
microbial diversity and richness as compared to vaginally
delivered (VD) children. Hence, in the current study, 28
adult CS and 28 matched VD control individuals underwent
two heartbeat perception tasks (heartbeat counting
task/HCT and heartbeat discrimination task/HDT) and a
continuous ECG and EEG assessment for the calculation
of heartbeat- evoked potentials (HEPs), an indicator of cortical
processing of cardiac signals. CS and VD individuals
did not differ in heart rate, cardiac interoceptive accuracy
(HCT and HDT), confidence ratings (HCT and HDT), or
in HEPs as assessed during rest and while performing the
HCT. Our findings suggest that microbiome- associated alterations
in the IBN do not generalize to the processing
of afferent signals from other organ systems, such as the
cardiovascular system.