Microbial Neurotransmitters: The Surprising Way Gut Bacteria Shape Your Brain


Discover microbial neurotransmitters—the chemical messengers produced by gut bacteria that help shape your brain, mood, and sleep through the gut-brain axis. These microbial neurotransmitters include compounds like GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and acetylcholine, which can influence neural circuits tied to emotion, circadian rhythms, and wakefulness. The dialogue between the gut and the brain is bidirectional: what you eat, your stress levels, and your microbiome composition can drive changes in neurotransmitter production, while these signals feed back to affect mood, cognitive function, and sleep quality. InnerBuddies brings this science into practice with a white-label, modular Gut Health Operating System designed to power gut microbiome testing products for brands and researchers. The Gut Microbiome Health Index, a score from 0 to 100 grounded in an exclusive IP deal with EAFIT University in Colombia, offers a snapshot of overall gut-system health that can inform microbial neurotransmitter pathways. Our top 40 bacteria panel highlights which species tend to support or dampen neurotransmitter precursors, while our categorized bacterial functions label each metabolic pathway as positive or negative and show how you compare against a healthy cohort. Target Group analysis lets you drill down into areas where the gut-brain axis matters most—such as Healthy Aging, Endurance Sport, Skin & Hair Health, and more—so you can tailor insights around mood and sleep outcomes. Personalized nutrition and targeted interventions are at the core of translating microbial neurotransmitter science into real-world impact. By integrating data from 3-day food diaries with stool samples, InnerBuddies builds a detailed map of how individual foods influence your gut microbiome’s neurotransmitter-related pathways. This enables practical, tailored nutrition advice and personalized probiotics and prebiotics that align with your goals and your unique microbial profile. In addition to consumer-focused gut test solutions, InnerBuddies offers a robust B2B platform—a flexible white-label system you can deploy to scale a complete gut-health testing program for your audience or customers. Explore how microbial neurotransmitters can be measured, interpreted, and acted upon with InnerBuddies today. Learn more about our consumer test at InnerBuddies product page, or consider a subscription for ongoing gut-health insights at InnerBuddies subscription page. If you’re a business seeking white-label capabilities or co-branded solutions, see our partner program at InnerBuddies B2B page.