Appetiteitsabrainthing

Theregulationofbodyweightandenergybalanceinanimalsdependsonthecentralnervoussystemcapacitytoreadthebodys
metabolicstateandrespondaccordingly.Buthowdoesthebrainprocessandintegrateinformationtoregulatefeedingbehaviour
inordertosustaintheenergeticneedsoftheorganism?Inanarticlenowpublishedonthejournal"Neuron",scientistsfromthe
USandPortugalstudythebrainactivityofratsduringafeedingcycleconsistingofanepisodeofhunger,satietyandhunger
againandfoundthat,whileindividualneuronsrespondtopartsofthecycle,thepooledactivityoftheneuronsinentirebrain
areasisalwayshighthroughouthunger,diminishingaftertheanimalisfedandsatiated,andagainincreaseswhentheanimalis
hungryagain,avariationthatmostprobablyunderliestheactivationofthemechanismassociatedwithfeedingmotivationin
theseanimals.

Forsurvival,theindividualsofaspecieshavetocarryvitalfunctionssuchaseating,drinking,havingsexorpresentmaternal
behaviour.Toassurethishappens,duringevolution,certainareasinthebrainhavedevelopedtoprovidestrongfeelingsof
pleasureasarewardforcarryingoutthesevitalfunctions.
Atypicalexampleisthemotivationtoeat,whichisbalancedbetweenstatesofhungerwheneatingisaccompaniedbya
sensationofpleasureandsatiationwhenthebrainsensesabiochemicalchangeandstopsthefeedingprocess.

Previousresearchhasshownthat,duringhunger,severalareasinthebrainseemtoshowincreasedneuralactivitywhich,after
eating,isreduced.Theseexperiments,however,werelimitedbecause,ononehandtheanimalswereneverallowedtoeatfreely
asthefoodwascontrolledbythescientist,andontheotherhandawholecycleofhunger,satietyandnewepisodeofhungerwas
neverfullystudied.

TryingtounderstandbetterthebrainprocessthatleadstothemotivationtostartandendthefeedingprocessIvanE.deAraujo,
SidneyA.SimonandcolleaguesatDukeUniversityMedicalCenterinNorthCarolina,USandatPortoUniversity,Portugaldecided
tolookatratsbrainactivityinamorenaturalexperimentalsituationtheanimalswereallowedtodecidewhentostartand
endeating,andtheirbrainswereanalysedthroughoutentirehungersatietyhungercycles.

Theresearchersmeasuredneuralactivityinfourbrainareasknowntobeassociatedwithfeedingmotivationlateral
hypothalamus,orbitofrontalcomplex,basolateralamygdaleandinsularcortexduringafullfeedingcycleinwhichtheratswere
hungry,fedonsugarywateruntilsatiatedandthengrewhungryagain.Theactivityofindividualneuronswithintheseareaswas
alsoanalysed.Thelevelsofglucoseandinsulininthebloodwerealsomeasuredduringtheexperiments.

Bycorrelatingthedifferentstagesoffeeding(hungersatietyhunger)withbrainactivity,theresearchersfoundthatthemajority
ofindividualneuronsonlyrespondedtoaparticularmetabolicstate(forexampleloworhighglucoselevelsbutnottoboth)within
thefullfeedingcycle.Bycontrast,thewholeactivityofanyofthefourbrainareasanalysed,consistentlyincreaseduringthe
hungerepisodesanddecreaseduringsatietyallowinganaccuratepredictionoftheduration,startandendofthedifferentstages.
Theseresultsshowthatthemechanismregulatingfeedmotivationisdistributedacrossdifferentbrainareas,formingaconnected
circuitthatsharesinformationonsensorialandmotivationalaspectsoffeedingcollectedfromamultitudeofindividualneurons.

Araujo,Simonandcolleaguesalsofoundthat,fromthefourbrainareasstudied,lateralhypothalamusseemedtobethemost
importantforeatingmotivation,asitsneuralactivityhadthehighestcorrelationwiththechangeswithinthefeedingcycle.This
resultagreeswithpreviousobservationswheresinglelesionsinthisbrainareacanautomaticallyleadtoradicalchangesin
appetitewhetherleadingtohyperphagiaabnormallyhighfoodintakeor,hypophagiareducedfoodintake.Thisresearch
contributestoabetterunderstandingofthebrainmechanicbehindfeedingstimulus,aparticularlyimportantissueinviewofthe
currentworldepidemicofobesity.

Formoreinformationgoto:
http://www.neuron.org/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0896627306005496

Peerreviewedpublicationandreferences:
Neuron51,483494,August,2006NeuralEnsembleCodingofSatietyStates

EUFICrelatedmaterial:
Foodchoice

Source:EuropeanFoodInformationCouncil