Why you can not resist the excessive consumption of high calorie foods



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A cerebral "switch" that prompts people to binge on hamburgers, pizzas and fries was identified for the first time.

This discovery suggests new treatments for obesity and binge eating, scientists said.

It is located in a region of gray matter called central amygdala, known for its power to control emotions.

Experiments have shown that by deactivating a protein called nociceptin in these cells, the mice stopped feeding on tasty food.

"Scientists have been studying the amygdala for a long time – and they have associated it with pain, anxiety, and fear," said Professor Thomas Kash, a pharmacologist at the University of North Carolina.

"But our results here point out that he's also doing other things – like regulating pathological eating."

Removing about half of the neurons responsible for nociceptin in the circuit has reduced the gluttony of the mouse.

This allowed them to keep their weight even when they had access to rich foods without harming their normal diet.

Professor Andrew Hardaway, the first author of the study and based in the same lab, said, "Our study is one of the first to describe how the emotional center of the brain contributes to eating for pleasure."

The findings have highlighted the "noshing neurobiology" – explaining why it's so easy to get caught up in the game of cookies, cakes and fast foods high in calories, the researchers said.

Drugs that target the chemical pathway can combat the obesity epidemic. In the United States, more than one in three adults is considered obese, according to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey.

And according to the study, it's the key to the addictive effect of the tastiest foods that drive you to stuff them, even when you know you're tired of them.

"This circuit seems to be the means by which the brain can tell you that if something tastes good, then it's worth the price you pay for it – so do not stop," Kash said.

His team discovered that the specific network encouraged mice to continue eating sweet and sugary treats, even if their basic energy needs had been met.

The mammalian brain circuit described in Neuron lifts the veil on the appetite of modern humans for abundant and tempting delicacies.

It is a by-product of evolution when large, rich meals are rare. Our brains have been wired to devour as many calories as possible.

That's because no one knew when the next big feast would come, the researchers said.

Obesity experts have spent decades analyzing brain cells involved in homeostatic nutrition.

This is triggered by hunger and maintains our level of energy. But this approach has had limited success.

But some are now focusing on the "hedonic" type of eating high-calorie, pleasure-driven foods that go well beyond our strict energy needs.

This is thought to reflect our continued adaptation to old environments where famines were common.

Seeing high-calorie foods as particularly pleasurable – and eating them whenever they were available – was a crucial survival advantage in allowing more energy to be stored.

But following this instinct now, in times of plenty, is fueling obesity. which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

"There is so much calorically dense food available all the time now – and we have not yet lost that wiring that drives us to eat as much food as we can," Kash said.

Previous research has pointed to nociceptin – a signaling molecule in the nervous system.

Kash and others have shown that protein blocking compounds – called nociceptin receptor antagonists – have little or no effect on the homeostatic feeding of rodents.

But they hinder the excessive consumption of hedonic foods on tasty foods that are bad for them.

Now, Kash and his colleagues have found the circuit they are working in – opening the door to an anti-obesity pill.

They designed mice to produce a fluorescent molecule with nociceptin – literally illuminating the cells that control it for excessive consumption of food.

Researchers are now studying the circuit in more detail, the timing of its food-related activity, and how nociceptine antagonists are changing its functions.

"This adds support to the idea that everything that mammals eat is being dynamically categorized according to a spectrum of good / tasty to bad / disgusting," Hardaway said.

"This can be physically represented in subsets of tonsil neurons. The next major step and challenge is to exploit these subsets to develop new treatments for obesity and binge eating. "

Other scientists are studying nociceptin antagonists as possible treatments not only for obesity and binge eating, but also for depression, pain and addiction.

"The effects on the blocking behavior of nociceptin activity probably involve multiple mechanisms in the brain," Kash said.

"But overall, the blockage of nociceptin seems to stabilize the behavior – bringing it closer to normal."

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