CHEVY CHASE, Md. – If you’re having a tough time sticking to a diet, it isn’t your lack of self-control, it is how your brain is wired, according to scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
According to them, there are neurons known as AGRP neurons that are responsible for hunger pangs. Blame them.
Their study was published April 27 in the journal “Nature”.
The scientist are saying AGRP neurons teach us to respond to sensory cues that signal the presence of food, and the urge to eat it.
Hunger, they say, impacts every cell in the body. There are several types of neurons dedicated to making sure we eat when energy is low by making hunger feel bad, and eating feel good.
AGRP neurons, located in a regulatory area of the brain known as the hypothalamus, are shown to dictate how we feel about hunger. The study used behavioral experiments on mice to assess the AGRP role in eating.
Through deep-brain calcium imaging, AGRP neuron activity was shown to rapidly reduce response to food-related cues.
The scientists concluded these need-sensing neurons condition preference for environmental cues associated with nutrient or water ingestion, and may lead to development of better dietary control for weight loss.
Dr. Lance J. Morris, ND, of Wholistic Family Medicine in Tuscon, Ariz says: “The premise that this overshadows the power of free will is still science conjecture and brings up the age old schism between Nature vs Nuture.”
Morris quotes his book, The Edge and Beyond, A Journey for Personal Self-Discovery, Awakening and Healing; “Nature refers to genetic determinism as the primary cause of the development of individual differences in physical and behavioral traits. Nurture identifies personal experience and social factors as dominant. Current consensus suggests that both the genetic code of an individual and environmental factors influence development interactively. Epigenetics involves the study of changes in the regulation of gene activity and expression that are not dependent on gene sequence. This discipline helps bring into focus the influence of environment and consciousness on gene expression”.”
“Although there may be an inherent bias in Allopathic Medicine toward Nature driving this type of research and conclusion, I believe that the science of Epigenetics will have a significant tempering influence over time. In my book I offer a window into what I call Causation Mechanics, a novel process of transcendent self-actualization,” he said.