Could human brain size hold the key to understanding obesity? A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge found that the “control center” of appetite in the brain is larger in overweight people, News.ro reports.

The team from Cambridge found that the hypothalamus – a key brain region involved in hunger control – is more important in overweight and obese people than in people of a healthy weight. According to the research team, this discovery provides new evidence of a link between brain structure and weight and food intake.

Worldwide, more than 1.9 billion people are classified as overweight or obese.

More than four in 10 adults in the United States are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and in the UK, nearly two-thirds of adults are overweight or living with obesity, according to the Office of Public Health. Improvements and differences.

Being overweight increases the risk of developing serious health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Factors affecting weight gain

Many factors influence our eating habits and choices, including genetics, hormone regulation, and the environment in which we live. The Cambridge team admits that the brain mechanisms that signal hunger or satiety remain unclear.

However, studies have shown that the hypothalamus, a region of the brain about the size of an almond, plays a key role.

“Although we know that the hypothalamus is important for determining how much we eat, we actually have very little direct information about this area of ​​the brain in living people. This is because it is very small and difficult to distinguish on a traditional magnetic resonance imaging brain scan,” says Dr Stephanie Brown from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Brown said most of the evidence for the hypothalamus’ role in appetite regulation comes from animal studies. These studies have demonstrated complex pathways of interaction in the hypothalamus, where different cells act together to signal hunger or satiety.

Cambridge researchers used machine learning for the study

The researchers used a machine learning algorithm to analyze MRI brain scans of 1,351 young adults with different body mass index (BMI) values.

They looked for differences in the hypothalamus in people who were underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese.

The results, published in the journal Neuroimage Clinical, show that the total volume of the hypothalamus was “significantly larger” in overweight and obese young adults. There was also a “significant” correlation between hypothalamic volume and BMI.

Dr. Brown noted that the most pronounced differences in volume were found in subregions of the hypothalamus, which control appetite by secreting hormones to regulate feelings of hunger and satiety. Although the exact significance of this finding remains unclear, Dr. Brown suggested that this change may be related to inflammation.

Obesity and the hypothalamus

Previous animal studies have shown that a high-fat diet can cause inflammation in the hypothalamus, leading to insulin resistance and obesity. Mice can develop inflammation as little as three days after consuming a high-fat diet.

Other studies have shown that this inflammation can increase the amount of food needed to feel full.

“If what we see in mice applies to humans, eating a high-fat diet may cause inflammation in the human appetite control center. Over time, this can change our ability to know when we’ve eaten enough and the way the body processes blood sugar, leading to weight gain,” says Dr. Brown.

“We hope that with this new approach to analyzing brain scans in large datasets, we will be able to further extend this research to humans and ultimately correlate these subtle structural brain findings with changes in appetite and eating, and gain a more comprehensive understanding of obesity “, – adds Professor Paul Fletcher, the lead author of the study, from the Cambridge Department of Psychiatry.

The Cambridge team concluded that further research is needed to determine whether the increased volume of the hypothalamus is a result of being overweight, or whether people with larger hypothalamus tend to eat more.

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