Biodiversity, the Human Microbiome and Mental Health: Moving toward a New Clinical Ecology for the 21st Century?

Figure 2

In addition to antimicrobial overuse, lifestyle factors may diminish microbial diversity. It is possible that modernity brings loss of contact with biodiversity and places westernized populations in a state of dysbiosis relative to our ancestors. This, in turn, may have immune and mental health consequences (image: Susan Prescott).