Sunday, February 9, 2014

Agouti-peptide (AgRP) expressing neurons: How the brain controls hunger?

Decoded: How brain controls hunger



"Abnormal hunger can lead to obesity and eating disorders, but in order to understand what might be wrong - and how to treat it - you first need to know how it works, added Lowell, also professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The findings show that Agouti-peptide (AgRP) expressing neurons - a group of nerve cells in the brain's hypothalamus - are activated by caloric deficiency.

When AgRP was either naturally or artificially stimulated in animal models, it caused mice to eat voraciously after conducting a relentless search for food.

The hunger-inducing neurons that activate these AgRP neurons are located in the paraventricular nucleus - a brain region long thought to cause satiety, or feelings of fullness.

"This unexpected finding adds an important dimension to our understanding of what drives appetite," said Lowell.- See more at: https://www.authintmail.com/article/health/decoded-how-brain-controls-hunger."

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