Why You Can’t Stop Eating

1 min

Do we keep eating when we’re full because food tastes good or because we’re in the company of others who are still eating? Researchers at the University of Michigan Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute looked at what happens in the brain to over-rule feelings of fullness. While they investigated this in mice and not humans, the findings suggest that at the heart of the matter is a battle between two tiny clusters of cells deep in the brain. The research shows the cluster that drives eating overpowers the one that says enough is enough when you’re full. Study leader Huda Akil, Ph.D., explained that the investigation illustrates that “the signals of satiety – of having had enough food – are not powerful enough to work against the strong drive to eat, which has strong evolutionary value” and that there appears to be a robust neural system involved in overeating that results from perceptual, emotional and social triggers.

Source:
Huda Akil et al, “Uneven balance of power between hypothalamic peptidergic neurons in the control of feeding.” PNAS, September 17, 2018, doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802237115

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