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Behavioral inhibitory control (BIC) acts as a key cognitive ability, which is essential for humans to withhold inappropriate behaviors. Meanwhile, many studies reported that long-term exposure to high altitude (HA) may affect cognitive ability. However, it is not clear whether long-term exposure to HAs may affect the BIC of an individual. To clarify the role of altitude in the behavioral control of adults and the underlying neural mechanism, we explored the BIC neural activity profiles of healthy immigrants from low-altitude (LA) regions to HA regions. Combining a two-choice oddball paradigm and electrophysiological techniques, this study monitored the N2 and P3 event-related components and neural oscillations across LA and HA groups. Results showed longer reaction times (RTs) for the HA group than the LA group. Relative to the LA group, lower N2 and P3 amplitudes were observed for the HA group. Significant positive correlations were also found between P3 amplitude and theta/delta band power across both groups. Importantly, lower theta/delta band powers were only observed for the HA group under the deviant condition. Collectively, these findings suggest that long-term exposure to HAs may attenuate BIC during the response inhibition stage and provide valuable insights into the neurocognitive implications of environmental altitude on BIC.

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Schizophrenia, a common mental disorder, has a tremendous impact on the health and economy of people worldwide. Evidence suggests that the microbial-gut-brain axis is an important pathway for the interaction between the gut microbiome and the development of schizophrenia. What is not clear is how changes in the gut microbiota composition and structure during antipsychotic treatment improve the symptoms of schizophrenia. In this study, 25 patients with schizophrenia were recruited. Their fecal samples were collected before and after hospital treatment for 14–19 days. The composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota were evaluated by 16S rRNA sequencing analysis, and the results showed significant differences in fecal microbiota before and after treatment. Firmicutes (relative abundances of 82.60 and 86.64%) and Gemminger (relative abundances of 14.17 and 13.57%) were the first dominant species at the phylum and genus levels, respectively. The random forest algorithm and co-occurrence network analysis demonstrated that intestinal flora (especially the core species ASV57) could be used as biomarkers to distinguish different clinical states and match treatment regimens accordingly. In addition, after fecal microbiota transplantation, antibiotic-treated recipient mice showed multiple behavioral improvements. These included decreased psychomotor hyperactivity, increased social interaction, and memory. In conclusion, this study suggests that differences in the composition and structure of gut microbiota after treatment are associated with the development and severity of schizophrenia. Results may provide a potential target for the treatment of this disorder.