Gaby
Next time you make a poor choice, go ahead and blame your hormones. Whether you’re hungry or full actually changes how you decide.
Research from University College London (UCL) found that the hunger hormone ghrelin, produced in the gut, can influence activity in the hippocampus — a brain region involved in decision-making around food. For example, it can affect whether you buy groceries on an empty versus a full stomach.
How the Research Was Conducted
The team reached these conclusions after a series of experiments on mice. Researchers put the rodents in an arena with limited food and watched how they behaved when hungry compared with when they were satiated. At the same time, they visualized the mice’s brain signals in real time, as reported by the Independent.
The researchers focused on the ventral hippocampus. When the mice approached the food, neurons in this area became more active. That increased activity actually suppressed the animals’ eating.
When a mouse was hungry, activity in the ventral hippocampus was lower, which reduced that suppressive signal and allowed the animals to eat. The researchers link this change to higher levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin circulating in the blood.
In one experiment the team also made the mice behave as if they were full: the rodents stopped eating even though they were hungry.
Conclusions Drawn by the Team
The study showed that ghrelin can cross the blood-brain barrier, which normally limits substances from entering the brain. The hormone directly alters neural activity in the hippocampus.
Dr. Ryan Vi, a specialist in neurobiology, physiology, and pharmacology at UCL, emphasized the role of hunger in decision-making.
“Hunger can significantly influence our choices,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Andrew MacAskill. Just think about how many unnecessary items you buy on an empty stomach.
The researchers hope understanding how hunger hormones affect the brain will help prevent and treat eating disorders.
The study’s findings were published in the journal Neuron.
