Introduction to nutritional neuroscience

Question 1

What neural circuits underly eating behavior?

Answer 1

reward system, self-control system, learning system, decision-making system

Question 2

What brain areas are involved in the drive to eat?

Answer 2

prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus

Question 3

How do neural circuits and systems change over the course of one’s lifetime?

Answer 3

orosensory and visceral control systems are more prevalent at birth, reward control systems gain importance after weaning, emotional control systems drive weight gain in adolescence

Question 4

What areas and systems drive us to eat when we’re hungry?

Answer 4

hypothalamus and insular cortex + paralimbic and limbic areas (thalamus, striatum, caudate, cingulate, insula and orbitofrontal area)

Question 5

What areas and systems make us stop eating once we are full?

Answer 5

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Question 6

What brain area is the most connected with the feeling of satiety?

Answer 6

the anterior cingulate cortex

Question 7

What factors does the Three Factor Eating Inventory measure?

Answer 7

dietary restraint, eating disinhibition and hunger

Question 8

What brain areas are more activated in obese/overweight patients during starving?

Answer 8

anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex

Question 9

Describe the neural correlates of processing visual food cues

Answer 9

1) occipital brain area: attention to cue, object processing
2) amygdala: prominence of cue
3) orbitofrontal area: expectation regarding cue
4) insula: experience retrival
5) striatum: reward processing