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- Title
Gut-brain axis: impact of peripheral regulators of energy balance on the reward system.
- Authors
Dickson, Suzanne L.
- Abstract
The brain's reward system is engaged in food intake, no matter whether this is driven by energy deficit or by the anticipated pleasure of a palatable meal. Human functional resonance imaging studies have revealed that brain pathways involved in (visual) food reward processing are regulated by dietary, hormonal and potentially other energy metabolic signals. The neural substrates engaged include the ventral striatum and rodent studies have shown that the ventral tegmental area is an important target for adiposity signals (such as leptin and insulin) and gut-derived hormones (such as ghrelin, PYY(3-36) and GLP-1). We have shown that the orexigenic hormone ghrelin engages the mesoaccumbal dopamine pathway involved in incentive salience and that this is important for its effects on food motivated behavior. Ghrelin also alters food choice, food anticipatory and other behaviours in ways that would lead us to question whether it is only a hunger hormone (for which its release and effects might be expected to be limited to a state of negative energy balance) or whether we should instead be considered an "appetite-stimulating" hormone. Although obesity is associated with reduced sensitivity/resistance to certain circulating hormones, we recently discovered the existence of a novel body weight sensing mechanism that appears to be independent of leptin and other circulating hormones and labelled it the "gravitostat", revealed through loading studies in rodents (i.e. implantation of weighted capsules). Loading is effective for reducing body weight in obese animals. The mechanism appears to include a weight sensing mechanism in bone and we are currently exploring the mechanisms, including neural circuits involved. Research supported by the Swedish Research Council, the EC funded project "Nudge-it", Hjärnfonden and NovoNordisk Fonden.
- Publication
Anatomy: International Journal of Experimental & Clinical Anatomy, 2019, Vol 13, Issue S1, pS3
- ISSN
1307-8798
- Publication type
Academic Journal