The ghrelin’s mechanism was deciphered.
Feeling hungry? There’s a sound medical reason why that happens. Doctors have managed to retrace the electrical signals in our brain when eating time approaches. According to a recent study, the hunger hormone was linked to feeding disorders.
So, when you’re feeling full or empty or guilty when you ate too much, just remember it’s all about signal and cross wiring. Now, regarding the study, itself, it would seem that researchers have reached several conclusion that may aid them to develop more targeted therapies against overweight.
The project was conducted by the medical scientists from the University of Southern California. In order to find out what ticks inside our brain once we pick up the “leave everything and come to the table” signal, the researchers have performed a couple of experiments on laboratory mice.
By tweaking their feeding schedules, the researchers have discovered that ghrelin plays an important role in the mice’s diet. The experiment was aimed to see how the lab rats would react if their feeding scheduled was restricted. After a couple of trials, the scientists determined that if the mice were fed less during a meal, they will crave more food. Also, the researchers even managed to ascertain how ghrelin, the so-called hunger hormone helps the mice regulate their food intake.
Scott Kanoski, the lead author of the study and a senior researcher, noted that the study was aimed no only to see what hormones are triggered once we eat, but how the brain interprets various messages coming from all directions.
According to their discoveries, it would seem that the hunger hormone, known as the ghrelin, periodically communicates with the CNS in order to control our daily food intake. They’ve also figured out that the hippocampus plays a major role in feeding habits, because of its functions in the areas of memory and motivation. Kanoski mentioned that the sole anticipation of food is capable of actually increasing our daily food intake.
The scientists had the courtesy of explaining the mechanism step-by-step. According to the paper, it would same that the hunger hormone has the habit of communicating with the neurons located in the hippocampus. This channel of communication stirs the appetite. In term, we will begin to eat larger portions of food in a short amount of time. Moreover, it would seem that the mechanism extends, in order to include other areas in the human brain.
After inciting appetite, the neurons from the hippocampus wire the information to another group of neurons, located in the hypothalamus. In terms, these neurons will use the received information in order to stimulate the sensation of hyperphagia.
Photo credits:www.wikipedia.org
