The process of food intake appears to be organized at the cellular level like a relay race: during eating, the baton is passed between different teams of neurons until we have consumed the appropriate amount of energy. This is the conclusion of a recent study by researchers at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). Through this complex mechanism, the brain likely ensures that we neither eat too little nor too much.
Malfunctions of this process may lead to eating disorders such as anorexia or binge eating. The findings appear in the Journal of Neuroscience . To survive, we need to regularly replenish our energy by eating.
This process is coordinated in the hypothalamus, an important control center in the brain. The hypothalamus constantly receives important information from our body and environment, such as whether it is day or night, or whether our blood sugar levels are low. Based on this data, it triggers certain innate behaviors, such as going to bed when it's dark or heading to the refrigerator when we're hungry.
But how does the brain make sure we don't stop eating once the initial hunger subsides and stretch receptors in the stomach signal that food has arrived? "When we eat, we quickly switch from what we call 'appetitive' behavior to 'consummatory' behavior," says Prof. Dr. Alexey Ponomarenko who holds the Professorship of Systemic Neurophysiology at the Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology at FAU.
"We know little about how the brain c.