A study in mice with humanized gut microbiomes found that both low-salt and high-salt diets impaired short-term and long-term memory, though through different pathways. Low salt reduced essential hippocampal proteins like SYN1, PSD95 and BDNF needed to form memories, while high salt triggered pro-inflammatory changes in the gut microbiota and increased oxidative stress linked to anxiety-like behaviour. Published in Food Research International, the findings suggest the brain relies on a delicate balance of dietary salt, with too little starving it of vital gut-derived signals and too much causing inflammatory damage. Researchers say future studies should explore the lowest safe salt intake and whether restoring specific gut microbe metabolites could help counter these memory effects.
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