The hunger hormone ghrelin doesn't just influence where and when animals eat, it also appears to have an impact on memory. Disrupting signaling of ghrelin to the vagus nerve caused rats to forget they had just eaten, even though the animals remembered they had just had access to food. Findings suggest disrupted ghrelin signaling could negatively impact episodic memory.
While poor sleep can have some impact on metabolism, drinking coffee immediately after waking can harm glucose control. Strong black coffee consumed before breakfast increased blood glucose response to food by 50%.
Alzheimer's disease may be driven by excessive fructose metabolism in the brain. The findings shed light on why diseases, such as diabetes and obesity, are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's.
Depression and anxiety have different biochemical links to inflammation and lipid metabolism. Those with depression have greater levels of inflammation and different types and amounts of lipids in their blood compared to those with anxiety. The metabolites associated with depression were linked to the severity of symptoms. Higher levels of lipids associated with depression detected in a person's blood correlated with more severe symptoms.
Neurons can counteract degeneration and promote survival by adapting their metabolism.
The enzyme PHD3 plays a critical role in sensing nutrient availability and regulating the ability of muscles to break down fat. Blocking PHD3 production in mice leads to dramatic improvements in specific measures of fitness. Findings shed light on the key mechanism for how cells metabolize fuel and provide a novel understanding of muscle function and fitness.
Study in rats reveals sex differences may play a key role in the effectiveness of exercise as an appetite regulator. Exercising female rats ate more than those who did not partake in physical activity. The same effect was not seen in males.
Maternal obesity may hinder their child's brain development as soon as the second trimester of pregnancy. High maternal BMI is associated with changes to the child's prefrontal cortex and anterior insula, two brain areas associated with decision making, and behavior.
Suppressing the activity of hypothalamic neurons in mice during REM sleep resulted in a decrease in the amount of food later consumed. The study suggests REM sleep is essential to stabilize food intake.
Beta2-adrenergic receptors in brown fat cells are responsible for stimulating thermogenesis.
Paying attention alters how the brain allocates its limited energy. As the brain uses more energy to process information we attend to, the less energy is supplied to processing outside our field of attention.
Both food timing and the integrity of the internal clock in the liver altered rhythms of metabolism in mice. Almost half of the rhythmic genes are regulated by both the internal clock and when food is ingested.