Washington, US – A new scientific research has identified the link between memory and appetite in the human brain to explain obesity.
According to the ScienceDaily website, the study was carried out at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and it found that there are disrupted connections between the memory and appetite, which directly regulates brain circuits, corresponding to body mass index (BMI), especially in patients who suffer from overeating which can lead to obesity, like binge eating disorder (BED).
The research shows that individuals with obesity have poor connections between the dorsolateral hippocampus (dlHPC) and the lateral hypothalamus (LH), which may affect the individual’s ability to control or regulate emotional responses when expecting a meal.
The dlHPC is located in the ‘memory process’ region of the brain, and the LH is in the region of the brain called ‘homeostasis’ which is responsible for keeping the body in a stable state.
During the study, researchers were able to assess patients by monitoring their brains electrically in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Researchers monitored brain activity as patients anticipated and then received a chocolate milkshake, and found that both the dlHPC and the LH activated at the same time when participants expected receiving the reward.
Researchers found that the weakness of the hypothalamus-hippocampus circuit was directly proportional to the BMI of individuals with obesity. However, the connection was even more disturbed in participants with a high BMI.
Senior Author and Associate professor of Neurosurgery Dr. Casey Halpern, MD, says that “these findings underscore that some individual’s brains can be fundamentally different in regions that increase the risk for obesity.”
“Conditions like disordered eating and obesity are a lot more complicated than simply managing self-control and eating healthier. What these individuals need is not more willpower, but the therapeutic equivalent of an electrician that can make right these connections inside their brain,” Halpurn added.