text:  When we're talking or we're swallowing, it just happens. In fact, most people are surprised to know we swallow anywhere from 600 to 900 times a day. We're definitely not thinking about that when that happens. So when you have Parkinson's, that part of the brain that's dealing with those automatic behaviors is the part that's not working as it should. And for this reason, we have individuals with Parkinson's talking less, swallowing less, which in turn weakens that muscle or the muscles of the mouth and the throat due to disuse of them.