Your gut has its own neural network. Called the enteric nervous system, it controls digestion and has as many neurons as the spinal cord.
Parkinson's disease is a brain disorder that has been long associated with stomach upsets. These were often explained away as due to poor diet or stress, but it seems increasingly likely that the disease may also be affecting the neurons in the digestive system.
It was originally thought just to destroy dopamine neurons in a deep brain structure called the nigrostriatal pathway, an effect which causes the distinctive movement problems, but it has become clear that the disorder causes damage throughout the nervous system via the formation of protein clumps called Lewy bodies.
A new article in European Journal of Neuroscience suggests that Parkinson dis...
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