Areas of the brain involved in hunger

Areas of the brain involved in hunger

-By Timothy Lyons

It seems that there are two main mechanisms that cause hunger. The first mechanism is that of the stomach and intestines.  When the stomach and upper interest in become empty, they send an endocrine signal to the brain.  This signals the areas of the brain involved in hunger to begin looking for food.  At the same time a hormone called ghrelin is release from the gastrointestinal system. This hormone is used in the areas of the brain involved in hunger one of which is the hypothalamus and binds with receptors there. From this action the body is provoked into eating. As the amount of intake slows, the amount of ghrelin increases. There is a positive correlational increase of ghrelin and food intake as well as a negative correlation with the slowing of the body’s metabolism (Carson & Birkett, 2017). As well as these chemicals in other areas of the brain involved in hunger, the hypothalamus, also produces orexin and melanin concentrating hormone that increase hunger and reduce metabolism.

A second hunger signal comes from detectors in the body that signal a lack of fuels in the system. These detectors are located in the areas of the brain involved in hunger and the liver. Two sets of receptors are needed since there is a separation of the brain from the rest of the bodily functions via the blood brain barrier. The receptors in the brain are used to monitor the amount of glucose in the body. This occurs because the brains source of fuel is glucose. The rest of the body’s intake is monitored by the liver. This monitoring is used to detect the lack of both glucose and fatty acids in the body. The terms for these detectors are glucoprivation and lipoprivation. The action of these receptors is to send a signal to the brain through the vagus nerve (Carson & Birkett, 2017).

References for areas of the brain involved in hunger

Alvandi, E. O. (2016). A Review on Meanings of Emotions: Steps to a Neural-Informational Notion of Semantics. Cognition, Brain, Behavior, XX(1), 45-63.

Britannica.com. (n.d.). Sexual dimorphism. Retrieved January 29, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/science/sexual-dimorphism

Carlson, N. R., & Birkett, M. A. (2017). Physiology of Behavior (12 ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.