|
It is often said that only humans develop Parkinson’s. It is a distinctly human condiiton, and this is true (at the time of publishing this post). But there are interesting Parkinson’s-related observations in the animal world that could tell us something about this ‘very human’ condition. We have previously highlighted reports of this nature (Click here for an example). Recently Australian researchers have reported the accumulation of the Parkinson’s-associated protein alpha synuclein in the brains of kangaroos, after they ate a particular type of grass (phalaris pastures plants) which is toxic for them. In today’s (short) post, we will discuss what the report found, look at what the plants contains, and consider what this could mean for our understanding of Parkinson’s.
|
Source: SanDiegoZoo
The first interesting fact about kangaroos in today’s post: They are predominantly left handed
What?!?!?
Researchers published a study in 2015 reporting that while most four legged marsupials show no preference between their limbs, kangaroos are very left handedness (Click here to read the report)
Source: Cell
This finding is interesting as it could tell use much about our own handedness preference (Click here to read more about this).
Ok, interesting. But what on Earth does this have to do with Parkinson’s?
Ah, well that’s where we come to the second interesting fact about kangaroos in today’s post:
The Science of Parkinson's 