New research from UCL found that a hunger hormone can significantly affect a part of the brain responsible for decision-making in animals.
This experiment is the first to reveal the direct impact of hunger hormones on the brain's hippocampus when animals are hungry.
Let's see how it was discovered.
Hunger changes you
Dr. Andrew MacAskill, the primary author, clarified that our decisions can be swayed by hunger hormones, highlighting how feeling hungry or full can alter the significance of our food choices.
The experiment honed in on the ventral hippocampus, a critical region for decision-making in the brain, and observed how hungry mice displayed distinct neural activity when approaching food.
It was revealed that when mice were hungry, there was a reduction in neural activity in the ventral hippocampus, enabling them to eat.
This shift coincided with an increase in the levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin in the bloodstream.
The scientists successfully influenced the behavior of mice by either activating or removing specific receptors.
Why it's important
This experiment explains how hunger hormones can directly impact the brain's decision-making circuit, a process likely similar in humans.
The specialists aim to explore whether hunger affects learning or memory in mice and plan to investigate potential links to stress or thirst.
They believe these findings can potentially contribute to better understanding eating disorders and their connection to mental health.
