How your brain tells you to stop eating
A cholinergic basal forebrain feeding circuit modulates appetite suppression
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A part of the mouse brain called the diagonal band of Broca uses a chemical called acetylcholine to tell the hunger center to slow down eating. When this signal is turned off, mice eat too much and get fat. When it's turned on, they eat less.
Surprising Findings
Turning off cholinergic neurons didn’t increase hunger signals (AgRP) but instead silenced fullness signals (POMC).
Most obesity research focuses on overactive hunger neurons—this study flips it: obesity here was caused by a broken 'stop eating' signal, not a loud 'eat more' signal.
Practical Takeaways
If you're trying to lose weight, consider whether your brain’s 'fullness signal' might be weak—try structured meals and avoid constant snacking to retrain it.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
A part of the mouse brain called the diagonal band of Broca uses a chemical called acetylcholine to tell the hunger center to slow down eating. When this signal is turned off, mice eat too much and get fat. When it's turned on, they eat less.
Surprising Findings
Turning off cholinergic neurons didn’t increase hunger signals (AgRP) but instead silenced fullness signals (POMC).
Most obesity research focuses on overactive hunger neurons—this study flips it: obesity here was caused by a broken 'stop eating' signal, not a loud 'eat more' signal.
Practical Takeaways
If you're trying to lose weight, consider whether your brain’s 'fullness signal' might be weak—try structured meals and avoid constant snacking to retrain it.
Publication
Journal
Nature
Year
2016
Authors
Alexander M. Herman, Joshua Ortiz-Guzman, M. Kochukov, Isabella Herman, K. Quast, Jay M Patel, Burak Tepe, Jeffrey C. Carlson, Kevin Ung, J. Selever, Qingchun Tong, Benjamin R. Arenkiel
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Claims (4)
Nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant via central nervous system activation of hypothalamic satiety pathways independent of tobacco-derived toxins.
When scientists turned down the activity of certain brain cells in mice that use acetylcholine, the mice ate way more and got very fat; when they turned the cells up, the mice ate less.
When scientists removed the ability of certain brain cells in mice to make acetylcholine, the mice started eating way more and gained weight — but they didn’t move less or burn fewer calories at first.
Scientists found that the brain cells that use acetylcholine in mice send wires directly to the part of the brain that tells you when you're full — and those wires touch the 'full' cells.