Do you eat for hunger or for pleasure?

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) show that overeating, whether caused by hunger or pleasure, usually leads to obesity

The research team led by Dr.

Map out the path in the brain that controls eating behavior

Xu and his colleagues discovered two distinct brain circuits in the midbrain that are formed by neurons that produce serotonin

"We found that the circuit projected to the hypothalamus mainly regulates hunger-driven eating behavior, but does not affect non-hunger-driven eating behavior," Xu said

Another important contribution of this work is the identification of potential molecular targets related to circuits that may be used to treat binge eating

Professor Xu explained: “A potential target is the serotonin receptor.

In addition, the research team also discovered ion channels associated with the circuit, which may also provide opportunities for regulating feeding behavior

The other is the potassium channel, which affects eating triggered by cues unrelated to hunger, rather than eating driven by hunger

These findings encourage researchers to conduct future studies to determine more molecules that can modulate the activity of ion channels to produce animal models that resist overeating

Yanlin He, Xing Cai, Hailan Liu, Krisitine M.