Prof. Julio Licino from the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute argues that the microbiota–gut–brain axis is fully bidirectional, functioning in a manner through which changes in microbiota affect behaviour and alterations in behaviour result in changes in the gut microbiota. This axis may represent a novel target for antidepressant therapies.

About speaker:

Prof. Julio Licinio, M.D., FRANZCP, is Deputy Director for Translational Medicine and Head, Mind and Brain Theme at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and Strategic Professor of Psychiatry, Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. He is also a Research Professor at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of Adelaide and Visiting Professor of Psychiatry at University of Minho, in Braga, Portugal.