You feel it in your gut, and you feel it in your head. You want to know what is actually going on in there, and you want to do something specific about it instead of guessing at a shelf of bottles.
Short answer
A neurobiome-directed intervention (NDI) is a personalized probiotic and prebiotic formula, built from your own gut test, aimed at the gut microbes that take part in gut–brain signaling. It works through your gut. That is what "gut-mediated" means.
Flore delivers NDIs inside test-to-treat programs. Test your gut. Take a formula built from the result. Retest and rebuild. An NDI is a dietary-supplement intervention for structure/function support. It is not a drug, and it does not diagnose or treat any condition.
What is a neurobiome-directed intervention (NDI)?
Start with the neurobiome. That is our name for the part of your gut microbiome that takes part in the conversation between your gut and your brain: the microbes, and the things they make, that travel along the gut–brain axis. It is the same gut community a microbiome test reads, looked at through one lens. For the long version, read what the neurobiome is.
A neurobiome-directed intervention is what you do with that reading. Three words, three jobs:
- Neurobiome is the target: the gut microbes tied to gut–brain signaling.
- Directed means your data aims it. The formula is built from what your test found, not picked from a catalog.
- Intervention is the thing you take: a formula of probiotics and prebiotics, in capsules or powder, for a fixed term.
We say NDI for short after the first mention. When you see it on flore.com, that is all it means.
What does "gut-mediated neurobiome" mean?
Gut-mediated means the route runs through the gut. You swallow an NDI. It goes to work on your gut community. Any gut–brain link runs through that community and the signals it sends: the vagus nerve, the immune system, and microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids. A major review of the microbiota–gut–brain axis lays out exactly those routes (Cryan et al., Physiological Reviews, 2019).
So an NDI does not act on your brain directly the way a medication does. It feeds and populates the gut community that sits on one end of the gut–brain axis. If you want the background first, start with the gut–brain connection and the gut–brain axis explained.
How does a test-to-treat program work?
Test-to-treat is the loop that turns a gut test into a decision. Four steps:
- Test. You collect a stool sample at home. An accredited partner lab reads it. Flore does not run the lab. The labs are CLIA-certified, and some panels also carry CAP accreditation. Some programs, like the Flore Neurobiome Package, add an at-home urine panel that shows what your gut microbes are making, not just who is there.
- Build. Flore builds your formula from your results, drawing on up to 68 curated strains and 40+ prebiotics. Capsules or powder. Never a liquid.
- Take it. You take your formula for a fixed term. Pay in full, or split it into fixed monthly payments. It ends when the term ends. No auto-renew.
- Retest and rebuild. You test again, and the next formula is built from the new read instead of repeating the old one. A program that never retests can't tell you what changed.
In "test-to-treat," treat means acting on your data with a personalized intervention. It does not mean treating a disease. See the full program, terms and pricing on Test to Treat, or the step-by-step on how Flore works.
Microbiome vs. neurobiome test-to-treat
Same loop, two lenses.
- Microbiome test-to-treat reads your whole gut community and builds your formula around everyday gut support: digestion, regularity, comfort. Start at Test to Treat or the 6-month program with test.
- Neurobiome test-to-treat reads the same sample with the gut–brain axis in focus and builds an NDI from it. Start at the Neurobiome Test-to-Treat pathway. Want the deeper read? The Flore Neurobiome Package adds an at-home urine panel that shows what your gut microbes are making.
What an NDI is, and what it isn't
An NDI is:
- A personalized dietary supplement: probiotics plus prebiotics, built from your own gut data.
- Gut-mediated. It works on your gut community, and any gut–brain link runs through that community.
- Part of a loop. Test, build, take, retest.
- Something you can take alongside the care you already have.
An NDI isn't:
- A drug, a psychiatric medication, or a replacement for anything your clinician prescribed.
- A diagnosis. A gut test can't diagnose anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism or any condition. More on that in neurobiome testing.
- A cure or treatment for any disease.
- A subscription. Every Flore program is a fixed term.
- One famous "mood strain" in a bottle. Strains behave differently in different guts, which is why the formula starts from your test.
If you take medication, especially for mood, sleep or anxiety, talk to your clinician before you start anything new. You can download your report and ingredient list and bring them along.
NDI vs. an off-the-shelf "mood probiotic"
| Off-the-shelf mood probiotic | Neurobiome-directed intervention (NDI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | A label and a guess | Your own gut test |
| Formula | Same blend for everyone | Built for you from up to 68 strains and 40+ prebiotics |
| Checks itself | No | Yes: retest, then rebuild |
| Lab | None | Accredited partner labs (CLIA; some panels also CAP) |
| Term | Open-ended | Fixed term, no auto-renew |
Want a simpler place to start, with no test? GoodOnes™ targeted synbiotics are a fine first step, and you can move up to a test-to-treat program whenever you're ready.
Where the term comes from
The science underneath is the gut–brain axis, the two-way line between your gut and your brain. Researchers in Cork coined "psychobiotic" in 2013 for probiotics studied for their effects along the brain–gut axis (Dinan, Stanton and Cryan, Biological Psychiatry). That is the research lineage. Neurobiome-directed intervention is Flore's term for the personalized step: build the formula from your own gut data, aim it at the neurobiome, then check it with a retest.
Why Flore
We have done this for a long time, at scale. Flore has served 18,700+ guts, analyzed 23,000+ microbiome reports, and made 40,000+ personalized formulations. Behind that sits 10 years of paired microbiome and outcome data, including 651 people with paired symptom and microbiome follow-ups. Accredited labs do the testing. Flore builds the formula. You get a decision built on your own data instead of a guess.
Ready to stop guessing? Start with your gut data.
See Test to Treat → Neurobiome pathway →
Already have recent results? Upload them and build your formula →
Frequently asked questions
What is a neurobiome-directed intervention (NDI)?
An NDI is a personalized probiotic and prebiotic formula, built from your own gut test, aimed at the gut microbes that take part in gut–brain signaling. It works through the gut. Flore delivers NDIs inside test-to-treat programs: test, build, take, retest. It is a dietary-supplement intervention for structure/function support, not a drug, and it does not diagnose or treat any condition.
What does "gut-mediated" mean?
The effect runs through your gut. An NDI works on your gut community, and any link to the brain runs through that community's signals: the vagus nerve, the immune system, and microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids. It does not act on the brain directly the way a medication does.
What is a microbiome test-to-treat program?
A program that starts with a gut test and ends with a retest. An accredited lab reads your stool sample, Flore builds a formula from the results, you take it for a fixed term, and then you retest so the next formula is built from the new read. Details are on Test to Treat.
What is the difference between a neurobiome and a microbiome test-to-treat program?
Same loop, different lens. The microbiome program builds around everyday gut support. The neurobiome program reads the same sample with the gut–brain axis in focus and builds an NDI from it. The Flore Neurobiome Package goes one step further and adds an at-home urine panel that shows what your gut microbes are making.
Is an NDI a treatment for anxiety, depression or autism?
No. An NDI is a dietary supplement for structure/function support. It does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and it does not replace anything your clinician prescribed. If you take medication, talk to your clinician before you start.
Do I need a test to start? Can I use results I already have?
Test-to-treat programs include the test. If you already have recent results, you can upload them at portal.flore.com and build your formula from those. Tests are also sold on their own inside the portal.
Does Flore run the lab test?
No. Accredited partner labs run the tests. They are CLIA-certified, and some panels also carry CAP accreditation. Flore builds and makes your formula from the results.
Is a test-to-treat program a subscription?
No. Every Flore program is a fixed term. Pay in full or split it into fixed monthly payments. It ends when the term ends, with no auto-renew and no rebills.
How is an NDI different from a psychobiotic?
Psychobiotic is the research term, coined in 2013, for probiotics studied for their effects along the brain–gut axis. An NDI is Flore's term for the personalized step: a formula built from your own gut data, aimed at your neurobiome, and checked with a retest.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is educational and is not medical advice. If anxiety, low mood, focus or sleep is persistent or affecting your daily life, talk to a qualified healthcare provider.
Sources
- Cryan JF, O'Riordan KJ, Cowan CSM, et al. The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis. Physiological Reviews. 2019;99(4):1877-2013. PMID 31460832
- Dinan TG, Stanton C, Cryan JF. Psychobiotics: a novel class of psychotropic. Biological Psychiatry. 2013;74(10):720-726. PMID 23759244