Salome Kurth

SNSF-Professor, Eccellenza Fellowship, PD, Dr. sc. nat.

photo

 salome.kurth@unifr.ch
 +41 26 300 7647
 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1432-4367

Lecturer
Department of Psychology

RM 01 bu. C-4.115
Rue P.A. de Faucigny 2
1700 Fribourg
RM 01, C-4.115
+41 26 300 7647

Biography

Salome Kurth is Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Fribourg. Salome’s research interests are the maturation of sleep rhythm, sleep neurophysiology across the developmental period, cognitive development in early childhood and interactions with family context, nutrition, and gut microbiome. 

She pioneered pediatric research using high-spatial resolution EEG. She created sleep maps of the developing brain and discovered that slow wave activity (SWA, 1-4.5 Hz; a deep-sleep marker) shifts from posterior-to-anterior scalp regions, mirroring cortical anatomical maturation and associated behavioral functions. This research elucidates the brain connectome using a non-invasive, innovative approach. Her lab initiated research on novel connectivity markers and behavioral outcomes in infancy. They pioneered the exploration of the dynamic relationship between infant sleep regulation, gut microbiota, and neurodevelopment. Her findings show that SWA maps relate to gut microbiome profiles, with the strongest links occurring around 3 months of age, a critical period for predicting behavioral and developmental outcomes based on sleep habits and bacterial markers. Her latest work focused on early-life nutrition, and shows that maintaining a regular eating rhythm is reflected in gut microbiota and that high eating regularity predicts less fragmented nighttime sleep in infants. This opens new possibilities for interventions, including dietary adjustments and pediatric sleep education - a proactive approach to protecting long-term neurodevelopment.

Since 2019, she holds a SNSF Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship at the University of Fribourg. Prior to her position in Fribourg, she held a Junior Start-up grant from the Clinical Research Priority Program “Sleep and Health” at the University of Zurich, in the Departments of Neurology and Pulmonology at the University Hospital Zurich (2016 - 2018). Between 2012 and 2016 she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Salome received her Ph.D. from the University of Zurich in 2011, with the International PhD Program in Neuroscience from the Neuroscience Center Zurich, she obtained her M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Bern in 2007.

Current SNSF projects: 
https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/181279
https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/10000835

Outreach:  
www.baby-sleep.ch

Research and publications

  • Publication List
    331 publications

    The gut microbiota and sleep in infants: a focus on diurnal rhythmicity patterns
    Fannie Kerff, Christophe Mühlematter, Anja Adamov, Deborah Fast, Serafina Plüss, Petra Zimmermann, Salome Kurth, Nicholas A. Bokulich, Gut Microbes Reports (2026) | Journal article

    Stool Dynamics and the Developing Gut Microbiome During Infancy
    Mohammed Al-Andoli, Sarah Schoch, Andjela Markovic, Christophe Mühlematter, Matthieu Beaugrand, Oskar G. Jenni, Rabia Liamlahi, Jean-Claude Walser, Dennis Nielsen, Salome Kurth, Journal of Biological Rhythms (2026) | Journal article

    Perinatal antibiotic exposure and infant sleep behavior: findings from the ABERRANT study.
    Markovic A and Kurth S and Zimmermann P, Pediatric research (2026) | Journal article

    Charting infant sleep cycle development using actigraphy: longitudinal evidence for ultradian cycle lengthening within the first year of life from 35,000 hours of sleep.
    Hammad G and Schoch SF and Engelmann M and Spock Z and Kurth S and Winnebeck EC, Sleep (2026) | Journal article

    The infraslow fluctuation of sigma power during sleep and its links to markers of arousal and memory reactivation across development.
    Dimitriades ME and Osorio-Forero A and Fattinger S and von Arx S and Kurth S and Pugin F and Jaramillo V and Volk C and Krugliakova E and Furrer M and Leach S and Achermann P and Huber R, Scientific reports (2026) | Journal article

    Fecal melatonin as a biomarker of emerging circadian maturity and gut microbiota in infancy
    Mohammed Al-Andoli, Petra Zimmermann, Sarah Schoch, Andjela Markovic, Christophe Mühlematter, Matthieu Beaugrand, Oskar G. Jenni, Rabia Liamlahi, Jean-Claude Walser, Dennis Nielsen, Salome Kurth, npj Biological Timing and Sleep (2026) | Journal article

    The Interaction between Sleep and Development on Wake EEG Oscillations
    Sophia Snipes, Valeria Jaramillo, Elena Krugliakova, Carina Volk, Melanie Furrer, Mirjam Studler, Monique LeBourgeois, Salome Kurth, Oskar G. Jenni, Reto Huber, eneuro (2026) | Journal article

    Tracing infant sleep neurophysiology longitudinally from 3 to 6 months: EEG insights into brain development.
    Beaugrand M and Jaramillo V and Mühlematter C and Schoch SF and Reicher V and Markovic A and Kurth S, Npj biological timing and sleep (2026) | Journal article

    Perinatal antibiotic exposure and infant sleep behavior: findings from the ABERRANT study
    Markovic, Andjela and Kurth, Salome and Zimmermann, Petra, Pediatric Research (2026) | Journal article

    Stool Dynamics and the Developing Gut Microbiome During Infancy
    Al-Andoli, Mohammed and Schoch, Sarah and Markovic, Andjela and Mühlematter, Christophe and Beaugrand, Matthieu and Jenni, Oskar G and Liamlahi, Rabia and Walser, Jean-Claude and Nielsen, Dennis and Kurth, Salome, Journal of Biological Rhythms (2026) | Journal article

    The Infraslow Fluctuation of Sigma Power During Sleep in Young Individuals with Schizophrenia
    Dimitriades, M and Schumacher, E and Arudchelvam, J and Fattinger, S and Kurth, S and Pugin, F and Wehrle, F and Jaramillo, V and Volk, C and Leach, S and others, Sleep Medicine (2026) | Journal article

    Charting infant sleep cycle development using actigraphy: longitudinal evidence for ultradian cycle lengthening within the first year of life from 35,000 hours of sleep
    Hammad, Grégory and Schoch, Sarah F and Engelmann, Max and Spock, Zoe and Kurth, Salome and Winnebeck, Eva C, Sleep (2026) | Journal article

    The Interaction between Sleep and Development on Wake EEG Oscillations
    Snipes, Sophia and Jaramillo, Valeria and Krugliakova, Elena and Volk, Carina and Furrer, Melanie and Studler, Mirjam and LeBourgeois, Monique and Kurth, Salome and Jenni, Oskar G and Huber, Reto, eneuro (2026) | Journal article

    Tracing infant sleep neurophysiology longitudinally from 3 to 6 months: EEG insights into brain development
    Beaugrand, Matthieu and Jaramillo, Valeria and Mühlematter, Christophe and Schoch, Sarah F and Reicher, Vivien and Markovic, Andjela and Kurth, Salome, npj Biological Timing and Sleep (2026) | Journal article

    THE INFRASLOW FLUCTUATION OF SIGMA POWER DURING SLEEP IN YOUNG INDIVIDUALS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA
    SLEEP MEDICINE (2026) | Journal article

  • Research projects

    GrumpyBiome: Synchronization of gut microbiota and sleep rhythm in infancy
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.10.2022
    End 30.09.2024
    Funding Other 

    Development of sleep regulation – a window of opportunity for fostering healthy development
    Status: Completed

    Start 01.09.2019
    End 31.07.2025
    Funding SNSF  Open project sheet
    Good sleep is essential to human health, as it fosters neuronal functioning, cognitive performance and decision-making. Empirical work in the past decade has caused a shift in view from sleep as a pure behavior towards sleep as localized neurophysiological and cellular recovery process. Sleep also interacts with neurodevelopment – a connotation that opens up new avenues for interventional studies. Importantly, bacterial symbionts partially regulate the gene expression landscape of the human host. Our studies demonstrate that sleep, gut bacteria, and brain activity dynamically co-evolve in human infancy. Mechanisms physiologically underlying the sleep-bacteria link are proposed to include peripheral circadian synchronization, the hormone melatonin or neurotrophic/ neuroendocrine pathways. This project fosters the understanding of the role of sleep and especially also bacterial symbionts in cognitive development. We show that: (1) sleep quality is linked to gut bacteria in infants, (2) sleep-wake behavior is associated with neurophysiological (EEG) maturational markers, and (3) neurophysiological maturational markers are associated with cognitive development. Through multiscale sleep profiling, dietary factors and context integration we examine the link between bacteria and infant sleep regulation. Associations are tested in a stress context, and effects of antibiotic exposure are explored. Effects of "improved" sleep on bacteria and cognition are determined. To capture the earliest emergence sleep-wake regulation, sleep is objectively assessed in a cohort of mother-infant pairs, starting in pregnancy. Continuous sensor tracking detecting sleep-wake preferences in the fetus determines its predictive value for later infant outcomes. Further, maternal behavioral rhythm before birth and microbiota transfer through breast milk likely shape the earliest human rhythms. From data of different cohorts, we report on the association of sleep-wake behavior with neuronal maturational markers and with cognitive development and show that infant sleep is vulnerable to contextual stressors but also serves as a buffer for cognitive development. Using high-density EEG, we identify maturational markers of brain development and their sensitivity to family context. The project at the edge of neuroscience, psychology and microbiology and the use of novel approaches tackling the early human lifespan has reached the goal to examine the role of the bacteria-sleep link in infant development. The translational vision is to leverage microbiota-targeted and rhythm-based interventions, such as the NapBiome RCT, to foster healthy sleep and cognitive development.