Obesity Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Obesity, including details on health, diet, prevention, exercise.

Neural control of appetite: cross-talk between homeostatic and non-homeostatic systems.

Berthoud HR

Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, 6400 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA. berthohr@pbrc.edu

The new lifestyle in the modern world is causing a rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity and associated health problems. Increased availability of palatable and energy dense foods, combined with a lack of physical activity overpower a homeostatic regulatory system that evolved to survive periods of famine rather than preventing obesity. Environmental and lifestyle factors influence energy balance mainly through their impact on cortico-limbic brain structures dealing with reward, cognitive, and social aspects of food intake and voluntary physical activity. To find new behavioral and pharmacological treatments of obesity, it will be important to identify the specific pathways that link these externally driven processes with the homeostatic regulatory system.

Published 5 November 2004 in Appetite, 43(3): 315-7.
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