When making up your mind, going with your gut can be a safe bet. And according to a new study, leaving your gut in charge all the time might not be a bad idea—it may actually help dodge neurodevelopmental disorders.

While microbial mind control might sound far-fetched, one common gut microbe can singlehandedly reverse autism-like social behaviors in mice, researchers report in the journal Cell. Though the study is not yet applicable to human health, it highlights the strength of connections that can build between the gut and the brain—known as the gut-brain axis.

If the findings do hold up in more animal studies and human trials, it could mean that treatments as simple and unfussy as probiotic foods could relieve some symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder, the authors conclude.

Researchers got started on the study by connecting the dots on human studies, starting with epidemiological data that found a higher risk of autism in kids born to mothers suffering from obesity. Maternal obesity is also linked to alterations to gut microbiomes in offspring, according to human and non-human primate studies. And last, some individuals with autism also suffer from gastrointestinal problems linked to imbalances in gut microbes.

With all of that and other data on the mounting importance of the gut-brain axis, the researchers hypothesized that an out of whack gut microbiome may play a role in the development of disorders such as autism.

To test the idea, researchers subjected female mice to an established procedure for inducing obesity, which involves feeding the rodents an extremely high fat diet (60 percent kilocalories from fat). Then they let the obese females mate and produce litters. Of those offspring, which were raised on a normal diet and had normal weights, many displayed autism-like behavior, including an aversion to interacting with their cage mates, anxiety, and repetitive behaviors (assessed in mice if they repeatedly bury marbles).

Researchers examined the mice's microbiomes and found that they had less microbial diversity than control mice born to normal weight moms. In particular, they had a drastic reduction in their amount of Lactobacillus reuteri, a bacteria known to boost oxytocin levels in mice. Oxytocin is a hormone involved in many things, including social behavior, anxiety, and autism.

Unsurprisingly, the mice with autism-like behavior had fewer neurons that were making oxytocin. And during social interactions, they also showed weaker signals in the brain circuitry involved with rewards.

When the mice from obese mothers were co-housed with mice from normal mothers, they became more social. This may be because they were better socialized, but the researchers suspected it might be from a change in their microbiomes. Mice eat each other's poop, and therefore share gut microbes.

When the researchers gave the mice suffering with autism-like behaviors drinking water laced with L. reuteri, their social problems (but not their anxiety) vanished and their oxytocin levels and reward circuitry signals recovered.

The study needs to be repeated, and much more research would need to be done in humans before a similar treatment might arrive in clinics. Also, researchers still don’t know exactly how L. reuteri might be altering oxytocin levels. Still, the study provides a proof of concept that probiotics can treat certain social disorders.

Cell, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.06.001 (About DOIs).