The intriguing relationship between microbiota and human psyche showed gut microbiota to be associated with well-being. To determine if the microbiota of other body parts would be similarly associated, we analyzed the perceived stress, well-being, and happiness scale measures of 106 healthy individuals and their aerotolerant microbiota load in their otorhino canals. We found that both the perceived stress and well-being of the participants were associated with their otorhino microbial counts, but not their happiness scale scores. Women were found to have significantly less microbiota counts, lower well-being and higher levels of stress. This study is one of the first few to investigate new microbiota reservoirs in humans using aerobic body locations for psychobiological studies.
License type:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Funding Info:
This work was partially supported by JCO1334i00050 from the Joint Council Office, Agency for Science, Technology, and Research, Singapore. Ethics approval was obtained from James Cook University Human Research Ethics Committee (H6341) with informed consent by the participants.
Description:
The work described here was the final year project of BYLG in fulfilment of the requirements of the Bachelor in Psychology from James Cook University, Singapore.