SAN DIEGO, CA — The community of microorganisms living in the human gut, known as the gut microbiome, is increasingly recognized as playing a pivotal role in metabolic conditions such as obesity and neurological diseases including Parkinson’s disease. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2022, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
The human body hosts trillions of microbes, and the gut microbiome in particular appears to play an important role in human health and disease through several mechanisms. Advances in tools and techniques are allowing researchers to probe how interactions between our gut microbes, environment, and biology could impact a variety of health conditions.
Today’s new findings show that:
“The neuroscience research presented today illustrates that, when it comes to metabolic and neurological disorders, we cannot target only the brain. Everything that happens in the gut has an impact on the brain,” says Sonia Villapol, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Houston Methodist Research Institute, who studies brain recovery through the lens of peripheral mechanisms, including the gut microbiome. “A better understanding of interactions between the gut and the brain will bring great opportunities for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases.”
This research was supported by national funding agencies including the National Institutes of Health and private funding organizations. Find out more about the gut microbiome and the brain on BrainFacts.org.
Press Conference Summary
- Varied mechanisms link the microbes in the gut with the brain, making the gut microbiome an important player in some metabolic and neurological disorders.
- Clinical studies in humans and research with animal models are increasingly finding a role for the gut microbiome in health conditions including obesity and Parkinson’s disease.
Interactions of Early Life Adversity and Brain-Gut Alterations Predict Obesity-Related Complications
Johnny Figueroa, jfigueroa@llu.edu, Abstract 519.13
A New Parkinson’s Disease Model - Intracolonic Rotenone Causes Alterations of Gut Microbiota and Induces α-Synuclein Aggregation in the Brain
Yoon-Seong Kim, yk525@rwjms.rutgers.edu, Abstract 042.15
Low-Dose, Oral Insecticide Exposure Impairs Gastrointestinal Function and Disrupts Nigrostriatal Dopamine Circuitry in Mice
Timothy R. Sampson, trsamps@emory.edu, Abstract 447.14