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Stomach Full? - Your Brain May Not Know
Overweight People's
Brains Seem Slow to Sense Satiety
By
Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Overweight people's brains may not know when
their stomachs are full, a brain scan study
suggests.
The findings come from Gene-Jack Wang, MD, of
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Nora D. Volkow,
MD, director of the National Institute on Drug
Abuse, and colleagues. These researchers have
used real-time brain scans to explore addictive
behaviors. They're also looking at interactions
between eating behaviors and brain function.
In their new study, Wang and colleagues had 18
adult volunteers swallow balloons -- sections of
latex condoms tied off with unwaxed dental floss
-- attached to a long tube. Once the balloons
were in the patients' stomachs, the researchers
filled them with body-temperature water. The
idea was to simulate eating enough food to fill
the stomach.
While the balloons were being filled, the
researchers scanned the patients' brains. At
various times during the experiment -- when the
balloons were partially or fully filled -- the
patients were asked how full they felt, how
uncomfortable they were, how hungry they were,
and how much they wanted food. The patients had
not eaten since 7 p.m. the night before the
experiments, which were conducted between 11
a.m. and 1 p.m.
Perhaps not surprisingly -- as they had a tube
going down their throat -- the patients reported
only a little less hunger and a little more
desire for food when the balloons were full.
Interestingly, the thinner the subject, the more
likely that person was to report feeling full
when the balloon was full. The heavier the
patients, the less likely they were to feel full
with a filled water balloon in their stomachs.
Filling the balloon triggered a response in the
amygdala, the part of the brain that controls
emotional responses -- and possibly feeding
behavior. Removal of a specific part of the
amygdala causes animals to eat uncontrollably.
Interestingly, the left rear amygdala became
active when patients reported feeling full.
"This study provides the first evidence of the
connection of the left amygdala and feelings of
hunger during stomach fullness, demonstrating
that activation of this brain region suppresses
hunger," Wang says in a news release.
Wang went on to suggest that possible treatment
options for obesity might include brain surgery.
"Our findings indicate a potential direction for
treatment strategies -- be they behavioral,
medical, or surgical," he says.
Wang and colleagues report their findings in the
Feb. 15 issue of the journal NeuroImage.
© WebMD. All rights reserved.
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.....possible treatment options for obesity
might include brain surgery. |
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