Obesity

This is your brain on food

Published: October 18, 2012

Brain and food bubble Studies released today explore the neurological component of dietary disorders, uncovering
evidence that the brain’s biological mechanisms may contribute to significant public health challenges — obesity,
diabetes, binge eating, and the allure of the high-calorie meal. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012,
the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain
science and health.

Scientists are ultimately searching for new ways to treat diet-related disorders while raising awareness that diet and
obesity affect mental as well as physical health.

Today’s new findings show that:

• Being obese appears to affect cognitive function, requiring more effort to complete a complex decisionmaking task (Timothy Verstynen, PhD, abstract 802.20, see attached summary).

• Brain images suggest that when people skip breakfast, the pleasure-seeking part of the brain is activated by
pictures of high-calorie food. Skipping breakfast also appears to increase food consumption at lunch,
possibly casting doubt on the use of fasting as an approach to diet control (Tony Goldstone, MD, PhD,
abstract 798.02, see attached summary).

• A study in rats suggests they may be able to curb binge-eating behavior with medication used to keep
substance abusers clean and sober (Angelo Blasio, PhD, abstract 283.03, see attached summary).
Other recent findings discussed show that:

• Amidst growing concern that diet-related metabolic disorders such as diabetes impair brain function, an
animal study reports that a high-sugar diet may affect insulin receptors in the brain and dull spatial
learning and memory skills. But omega-3 supplements may at least partially offset this effect (Rahul
Agrawal, PhD, see attached summary).

• Evidence from a rat study suggests that a new compound under development to treat compulsive eating
disorders and obesity may be effective at blocking a specific receptor in the brain that triggers food
cravings and eating when activated by “food related cues,” such as pictures or smells, irrespective of the
body’s energy needs (Chiara Giuliano, PhD, see attached summary).

“These are fascinating studies because they show the brain is an often overlooked yet significant organ in an array
of dietary disorders,” said press conference moderator Paul Kenny, PhD, of The Scripps Research Institute in
Florida, an expert on addiction and obesity. “Many of these findings have the potential to lead to new interventions
that can help reduce the ranks of the obese, helping those who struggle daily with dietary decisions reassert control
over what they eat.”

This research was supported by national funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, as well as
private and philanthropic organ

ᔥSociety for Neuroscience

Babies’ brains are programmed by what mums eat

Published: April 6, 2012

Image: Stockxpert

Women who fall pregnant while dieting are more likely to have a child that could become obese or diabetic in later life, new research suggests.

While the study was carried out in sheep, University of Manchester scientists suspect the findings may hold true for humans as well. The research, carried out with colleagues in New Zealand and Canada, may also have found a reason why human twins are more likely to develop type-2 diabetes in adulthood after the team studied twin lambs.

The study investigated twin pregnancies in sheep, as well the pregnancies of ewes that received less food around the time the lamb was conceived. The researchers then looked at tissues from the brains of the unborn lambs. This was to see if there were changes in the structure of the DNA that would alter genes involved in food intake and glucose levels after birth.

“We found that unborn twin lambs had changes in the structure of DNA in the region of the brain that regulates food intake and glucose that resulted in an increased chance of diabetes in adulthood,” said study lead Anne White, Professor of Endocrine Sciences.

“Our findings provide a reason why twins are more likely to get diabetes but we have also shown that mothers who don’t have enough food around the time of conception may have a child who grows up with an increased risk of obesity.” [continue reading…]

Obesity linked to cognition

Published: August 26, 2011

Image: iStockphoto

New research suggests obese individuals often perform poorly in reasoning and planning tasks and, likewise, those with poor cognitive function are more vulnerable to excessive weight gain.

The controversial findings, published this week in the international journal Obesity Reviews, suggests that obesity should be treated, at least in part, as a brain condition, similar to anorexia nervosa.

This could mean introducing cognitive remediation therapy used to treat anorexia to support other lifestyle interventions for people with obesity. Cognitive remediation therapy aims at improving executive function via cognitive training and increases awareness of cognitive style. [continue reading…]

Obese Women less likely to receive weight loss counseling from GPS than obese men

Published: May 7, 2011

Image: iStockphoto

Astudy published in the June 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined the association between patient–physician gender concordance and weight-related counseling in obese individuals. Investigators from the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University found that obese male patients seeing male physicians had higher odds of receiving weight-related counseling than obese women seeing a female physician.

Commenting on the study, Octavia Pickett-Blakely, MD, MHS, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, observed that “Perhaps societal norms linking physical fitness to masculinity leads male physicians to view obese men as more receptive to weight-related counseling and contributes to open dialogue about weight in male gender-concordant relationships. [continue reading…]

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