Exploring the Intricate Gut-Brain Connection and Its Impact

6. Future “Bottom-Up” Treatments

New understandings of the gut-brain connection may allow for treatments for conditions beyond mood disorders. “Bottom-up” treatments target the gut to treat the brain. They are still under development and may use many different techniques.

For example, the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease contain high levels of synuclein—a substance that comes from the gut bacteria. It may be possible to limit our vulnerability to Parkinson’s disease by limiting the transfer of synuclein from the gut to the brain.