A study using a roundworm model suggests that this theory might be worth pursuing. Within a few months, the mice developed symptoms that mirrored Parkinson’s in humans.įollowing on from the findings above, some researchers have begun asking whether prebiotics might stave off Parkinson’s. In the experiment, these clumps traveled from the gut to the brain through the vagus nerve. The study, in the journal Neuron, explains how the researchers created a model of Parkinson’s disease by injecting alpha-synuclein fibrils into muscles in the mice’s gut. These proteins aggregate and destroy certain dopamine producing cells in the brain, causing tremor and the other symptoms of the disease. Misfolded alpha-synuclein is the primary hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. MNT covered a study that looked at this theory in 2019. Perhaps now that we have established a connection between the gut and the brain, we will find the thought of a gut link to Parkinson’s disease less surprising. MNT published an in-depth article on how gut bacteria might influence the brain and behavior here. Before they firm up the links between gut bacteria and mental health, scientists will need to carry out much more work. However, as the authors note, there is still the chance that factors other than depression might have driven the correlation. These differences remained significant even after they had adjusted the data to account for antidepressant medication, which might also influence gut bacteria. The scientists wanted to understand whether there might be a relationship between gut flora and depression.Īs the researchers hypothesized, they did find distinct differences in the gut bacterial populations of those with depression when they compared them with those who did not experience depression. Recently, a study appearing in Nature Microbiology utilized data from the Flemish Gut Flora Project, which included 1,070 participants. However, links between gut bacteria and mental health are still relatively controversial. It is no surprise that gut bacteria can influence gut health, but it does come as more of an eye-opener that they might influence our brain and behavior.Īlthough at first, this idea was a fringe topic, it is now moving closer to the mainstream. Over recent years, gut bacteria and the microbiome at large have become increasingly popular with scientists and laypeople alike. Scientists have debated whether sugar is addictive for decades, but these findings, as the authors explain, suggest that “foods high in sucrose influence brain reward circuitry in ways similar to those observed when addictive drugs are consumed.” 2. The authors published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports. In fact, the opioid system, which is that part of the brain’s chemistry that is associated with well-being and pleasure, was already activated after the very first intake.” “After just 12 days of sugar intake, we could see major changes in the brain’s dopamine and opioid systems. One of the authors, Michael Winterdahl, explains what they found: They chose to focus on the dopamine and opioid systems because both play pivotal roles in pleasure seeking behavior and addiction. They also imaged five of the pigs’ brains after their first sucrose experience. ![]() For 1 hour each day for 12 days, the pigs had access to sucrose solution.īefore and after the 12-day sugar intervention, the scientists used a PET imaging technique that measured dopamine and opioid activity. Recently, Medical News Today published a study that investigated how sugar influenced the brain of a particular breed of swine, known as Göttingen minipigs. ![]() Sugar may alter brain chemistry after only 12 days After all, if the gut is not well fed, it could be a matter of life and death the brain needs to be informed when energy is low so that it can call other systems into action. In fact, there is a great deal of neural conversation between the gut and the brain. By way of example, many of us, when especially hungry, might be more easily enraged. At first glance, it seems surprising that our brain and gut are interlinked, but we have all experienced their tight relationship.
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