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Apparently, we all have a "sausage roll gene" that helps us choose what to eat in a buffet – and researchers think it could help promote healthy eating.
One study found that what we select in the refrigerator, in a buffet or in a menu, is entirely due to the signals emitted in a part of the neglected brain, which is related to reward and pleasure.
This perception was thought to play only a minor role when humans chose a selection of dietary options, but tests showed that the ventral pallidum in rats was excited when they were presented with their favorite sweet treats.
Neuroscientists at Johns Hopkins University in the US say their findings may be "essential" to understand why some food options excite us and others do not.
This discovery could lead to new treatments that promote healthy eating and combat the epidemic of obesity.
Lead author David Ottenheimer said, "We have found a region of the brain that reflects our perception of food in an extremely dominant way. The level of brain activity observed far exceeded our expectations.
"Our data suggest that a more in-depth study of the ventral pallidum will be essential to understanding how we make dietary decisions.
"If we want to understand why one food may be exciting in one scenario and disappointing in another, the ventral pallidum might be the key."
His team wanted to measure how the brain determines what and how much to eat, when someone has several food choices with similar nutritional values.
The process unfolds very quickly as we move into the buffets, browse the menus of restaurants or take a look at the refrigerator.
Even with a choice, the favorite dish will probably be consumed faster and with larger bites.
The research team found that when rats received two similar sugary drinks for several days – their preferred sucrose and the less popular maltodextrin (food additive).
The ventral pallidum is triggered when the rats realize that they are getting what they want. But the area of the brain would become "disappointed" and the rats did not lick the treat faster when they realized they were drinking maltodextrin, according to the findings of Nature Communications.
When the scientists repeated the test with the same rats but replacing the sucrose water with pure water, they observed the same neutron activity as when the rodents realized that they were drinking from maltodextrin.
More: Food
These results suggest that the brain area makes context-dependent decisions, focusing on the best food option at any given time, according to the researchers.
Professor Patricia Janak, lead author of the study, said: "Because the signaling emitted by ventral pallidum neurons changes immediately when the rat changes the ranking of its preferred flavor, we consider that this response provides a real-time reading of these currently available options. & # 39;
The researchers are then on the agenda. Researchers need to determine whether signaling in the brain area has been used to reinforce existing foraging actions or to inform future decisions and direct them toward one food reward over another.
In the meantime – a roll of sausage, do you mind?
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