End to learn It was investigated by researchers at Northwestern Medicine, a nonprofit health system affiliated with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. relationship between the brain and appetite systems. What makes us not moderate in our food intake and therefore gain weight?
According to scientists, there is a structural connection between its two areas the brain appears to be involved in the regulation of feeding behaviour.
Let’s take a closer look at the findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The researchers’ conclusions
The brain regions examined in the study were linked to the sense of smell and the motivation that guides behavior.
In particular, the areas studied connect the olfactory bulb, a part of the brain’s reward system associated with smell, and a brain area called the periaqueductal gray (PAG), which responds to negative emotions such as threat and pain. and possibly in appetite suppression.
The researchers found that the weaker the connection between these two sensory areas, the higher the subjects’ body mass index (BMI).
“Wish food “It’s related to how attractive the smell of the ingested food is – food smells better when you’re hungry than when you’re full,” said Guangzhou Zhu, one of the study’s authors and an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“But if the brain circuits that help guide this behaviour are disrupted—that is, stopping eating when we’re full because the smell no longer attracts us and evokes reward sensations—the signals to stop eating can become confused, resulting in eating…rewarding us even when we’re full. in turn, it can increase your body mass index (BMI),” he continued.
Beating overeating
“Understanding how these key processes work in the brain is essential for future research that may lead to effective regulation of eating behaviour and treatment of binge eating,” said lead study author Christina Delano, professor of neurology.
Emily Spur lock, a nutritionist at the Digestive Health Institute in New York City, specialise in gut health and its connections. weight stated:
“Actually, we all do to some extent. We continue to eat until we are full. Some people listen to their body’s fullness signals better than others. For many, the smell and sight of their favorite dessert is stronger than the feeling of satiety.
The first time a person overeats to the point of discomfort, they probably recognize it. But the more it is, the feeling somehow softens – you get used to it and it stops being bad over time.
There are those who naturally have a stronger brain connection and overeating never becomes a problem. How can those without so much strengthen it? We just have to learn it.”