Eating for Hunger or Pleasure? Regulating These Feeding Behaviors Involves Different Brain Circuits
upstart writes:
Eating for hunger or pleasure involves regulating different brain circuits:
Many times we eat, not because we are hungry, but because of social pressures or because the food is so appetizing, that, even though we are full, we just want another bite.
[...] [Dr. Yong] Xu and his colleagues [...] discovered that the circuit that projects to the hypothalamus primarily regulates hunger-driven feeding, but does not influence the non-hunger driven feeding behavior," Xu said. The other circuit that projects into the midbrain regulates primarily the non-hunger driven feeding, but not the feeding behavior triggered by hunger. This indicates that, at the circuit level, the brain wires the two types of feeding behavior differently."
[...] One potential [molecular] target is serotonin receptors, which are molecules that mediate the functions of the neurotransmitter serotonin produced by the neurons," Xu explained. We found that two receptors, serotonin 2C receptor and serotonin 1B receptor, are involved in both types of feeding behavior. Our data suggests that combining compounds directed at both receptors might produce a synergistic benefit by suppressing feeding."
In addition, the team identified ion channels associated with the circuits that also might offer an opportunity to regulate the feeding behaviors. One is the GABA A receptor, a chloride channel, found to be important in regulating serotonin circuits during hunger-driven feeding, but not during non-hunger driven feeding," Xu said.
The other is a potassium channel that influences feeding triggered by hunger-independent cues, but not hunger-driven feeding. There is a clear segregation of these two ion channels," Xu said. They have distinct functions in feeding behavior, which suggests they also could be target candidates to regulate overeating."
Journal Reference:
Yanlin He, Xing Cai, Hailan Liu, et al. 5-HT recruits distinct neurocircuits to inhibit hunger-driven and non-hunger-driven feeding [open], Molecular Psychiatry (DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01220-z)
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