Scientists at the University of Cambridge have found something new about how the human brain is involved in controlling weight.
Their research focuses on a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which helps regulate when we feel hungry and when we feel full.
Obesity is a serious health issue around the world. It increases the risk of conditions like diabetes and heart disease. The hypothalamus is located deep in the brain and plays a key role in helping the body manage food intake. But because it is so small, it has been hard for scientists to study it in living humans using regular brain scans.
Dr. Stephanie Brown, one of the lead researchers at Cambridge, explained that most of what we know about the hypothalamus comes from studies with animals. These studies show that this brain area contains complex systems that tell us when to eat and when to stop eating.
To learn more about how this brain region might be different in people with different body weights, Dr. Brown and her team used a special method. They applied machine learning technology to MRI brain scans from over 1,300 young adults.
Machine learning is a way for computers to find patterns in large amounts of data. This helped the researchers take a closer look at the tiny hypothalamus in more detail than usual.
They found that people who were overweight or obese tended to have a larger hypothalamus compared to people with a healthy weight. The biggest changes were seen in the parts of the hypothalamus that are linked to hunger and feeling full.
Why is the hypothalamus larger in some people? The researchers aren’t completely sure, but they have some ideas. One possible reason is inflammation. In past studies with animals, eating too much fat has been shown to cause swelling in the hypothalamus.
This swelling may lead animals to eat more. If the same happens in humans, then eating a high-fat diet might lead to brain inflammation that changes how we feel hunger and fullness.
This brain inflammation could also cause the immune cells in the brain to grow bigger, which might explain why the hypothalamus appears larger in some people.
Dr. Brown said that if this is true, then over time, a high-fat diet might change how our hunger-control center works. It could lead to people not feeling full at the right time, handling blood sugar poorly, and gaining more weight.
Still, there are many questions left. Do people gain weight because their hypothalamus changes? Or does gaining weight cause the brain to change? It could be both.
This study gives us new insight into how the brain may be connected to weight gain. Understanding how the hypothalamus works could help researchers find better ways to treat obesity in the future.
For people interested in losing weight, other studies have shown that plant-based diets may reduce belly fat, and keto diets might help manage body weight and blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
If you care about weight, please read studies about diet that can treat fatty liver disease, obesity, and hop extract could reduce belly fat in overweight people.
For more information about weight, please see recent studies about how to curb your cravings for ready-to-eat foods, and results showing what you can eat to speed your metabolism up.
This study was published in the medical journal NeuroImage: Clinical.
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