Aim: To determine whether probiotic supplementation in early life improves neurocognitive outcomes assessed at 11 years of age.Methods: A total of 474 children who were born March 2004-Aug 2005 participated in a two-centre randomised placebo-controlled trial of infants at risk of developing allergic disease. Pregnant women were randomised to take Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain HN001, Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain HN019 or placebo daily from 35 weeks gestation until six months if breastfeeding, and their infants the same treatment from birth to two years. Intelligence, executive function, attention, depression and anxiety were assessed when the children were 11 years of age.Results: A total of 342 (72.2%) children were assessed (HN001 n = 109, HN019 n = 118 and placebo n = 115). Overall, there were no significant differences in the neurocognitive outcomes between the treatment groups.Conclusion: HN001 and HN019 given in early life were not associated with neurocognitive outcomes at 11 years of age in this study. However, we cannot exclude that other probiotics may have a beneficial effect. Further clinical trials are indicated.

No abstract

Background Regular ingestion of sub-hallucinogenic doses of psychedelics, referred to as “microdosing”, has gained increasing popularity and attention in the press and in online forums, with reported benefits across multiple cognitive and emotional domains. Rigorously controlled studies to date, however, have been limited in scope and have failed to produce results comparable to those reported in the grey literature. Methods Eighty healthy male participants will receive 14 doses of placebo or 10 μg lysergic acid diethylamide orally every 3rd day over a 6-week treatment protocol. A battery of personality, creativity, mood, cognition, and EEG plasticity measures, as well as resting-state fMRI imaging, will be administered at baseline and at the end of the protocol. Creativity, mood, and plasticity measures will additionally be assessed in the acute phase of the first dose. Daily functioning will be monitored with questionnaires and a wearable sleep and activity tracker. Discussion This study will rigorously examine the claims presented in the microdosing grey literature by pairing a comparable dosing protocol with objective measures. Potential therapeutic implications include future clinical trials to investigate microdosed psychedelics as a standalone treatment or as an augmentation of psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, addiction, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and palliative care. Trial registration ACTRN12621000436875. Registered on 19 February 2021

No abstract