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hunger

·June 12, 2025·4 min read

Smelling Food Triggers Fullness, But Only in Lean Brains

Researchers have identified a new brain pathway in mice that links the smell of food to feelings of fullness—offering insight into how scent influences appetite. When lean mice smelled food, a group of nerve cells in the medial septum activated rapidly, signaling satiety and reducing food intake.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 16, 2025·3 min read

How Obesity Rewires the Brain’s Food Reward Circuits

A new research initiative is investigating how obesity reshapes brain circuits involved in reward, motivation, and emotion, potentially driving unhealthy food decisions. The cross-disciplinary team will use cutting-edge electrochemical techniques to measure real-time brain chemical responses to food-related stimuli in humans.

This shows food items shaped into a brain.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 20, 2024·5 min read

Serotonin, GABA, and Dopamine Drive Hunger and Feeding

A new study has revealed how brain circuits and neurotransmitters regulate meal initiation, offering insights into obesity management. Researchers identified serotonin neurons in the midbrain's dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN) as key players, inhibited by GABA and dopamine when hunger strikes.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 7, 2024·5 min read

Newly Discovered Brain Neurons May Help Curb Hunger

Scientists have uncovered a new neuron type, BNC2, which acts quickly to counter hunger-promoting neurons, potentially leading to more effective appetite regulation. These BNC2 neurons, located in the brain’s arcuate nucleus, respond rapidly to hunger cues by inhibiting AGRP neurons responsible for driving appetite. This discovery adds a crucial layer to our understanding of the neural circuits controlling hunger and opens the door for novel treatments for obesity and metabolic conditions.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 23, 2024·9 min read

Neural Circuit Found to Regulate Chewing and Appetite

New research has uncovered a simple neural circuit that connects hunger signals to jaw movements required for eating. Scientists identified a three-neuron pathway involving the hormone leptin and BDNF neurons, which controls the jaw's motor function.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 27, 2024·3 min read

Ozempic Boost Fullness Pre-Meal via Hypothalamus

A new study shows GLP-1 receptor agonists increase pre-meal fullness by activating neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus. This mechanism helps prevent overeating, offering insights into obesity treatment. The research highlights how GLP-1 impacts food perception and hypothalamic responses to food cues, enhancing satiation before food intake.

This shows a brain and a measuring tape.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 16, 2024·5 min read

High BMI Linked to Weak Smell-Eating Circuit in Brain

A new study reveals a novel brain circuit linking the sense of smell and eating behavior. The weaker the connection between these regions, the higher a person's Body Mass Index (BMI).

Featured Neuroscience

·April 25, 2024·4 min read

Sight and Smell of Food Kickstarts Liver Activity

Merely seeing and smelling food can activate adaptations in liver mitochondria in mice within minutes. This response is driven by the activation of POMC neurons in the brain, signaling the liver to prepare for nutrient processing by modifying mitochondrial protein through phosphorylation.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 19, 2024·5 min read

Brain’s Food-Seeking Circuit Overrides Hunger Signals

Researchers identified a brain circuit in mice that drives them to seek food even when not hungry, focusing on a specific group of cells in the brainstem's periaqueductal gray (PAG) area. This discovery highlights how stimulating these cells causes mice to prefer high-calorie foods and engage in food-seeking behaviors, regardless of hunger.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 18, 2024·7 min read

Brain’s Motivation Mechanics: How Hunger Drives Goal Pursuit

Researchers unveiled how the brain's thalamus navigates hunger-driven motivation. Through innovative experiments with mice, the study explores the role of two distinct neuronal populations within the paraventricular nucleus (PVT), showing how they regulate actions towards achieving a goal, like foraging for food.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·December 28, 2023·6 min read

Eating with Your Eyes and Gut? How Your Brain Decides When to Eat

The science of eating behavior goes beyond hunger cues; it involves sensory stimuli, internal signals, and the gut-brain connection. External cues like food packaging and advertisements influence our eating decisions, but internal signals, such as hunger and fullness, play a profound role.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 16, 2023·8 min read

How Hunger Influences Decision-Making

A study in mice reveals that a hunger hormone produced in the gut directly affects the brain's hippocampus when an animal considers food choices. The research explores how hunger hormones impact neural activity and decision-making processes.