WeightControl.com Interview with:
Casey H. Halpern, MD
Division Head, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery
Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
University of Pennsylvania
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The dorsolateral hippocampus (dlHPC) is located in the region of the brain that processes memory, and the lateral hypothalamus (LH) is in the region of the brain that is responsible for keeping the body in a stable state, called homeostasis. Previous research has found an association with loss of function in the human hippocampus in individuals with obesity and related disordered eating, like BED. However, outside of imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the role of the hippocampus has been difficult to study in humans with obesity and related eating disorders.
WeightControl.com: What are the main findings?
Response: In this study, researchers were able to evaluate patients whose brains were already being monitored electrically in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit. Researchers monitored brain activity as patients anticipated and then received a sweet treat (a chocolate milkshake). They found that both the dlHPC and the LH activated simultaneously when participants anticipated receiving the rewarding meal. These researchers confirmed using stimulation techniques pioneered by coauthors, Kai Miller, MD, PhD, and Dora Hermes Miller, PhD, from Mayo Clinic, that this specific zone of the hippocampus, the dlHPC, and LH exhibited extremely strong connectivity, as well.
Disrupted connections between memory and appetite regulating brain circuits are directly proportional to body mass index (BMI), notably in patients who suffer from disordered or overeating that can lead to obesity, such as binge eating disorder (BED), according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Published today in Nature, the research notes that individuals who are obese have impaired connections between the dlHPC and the LH, which may impact their ability to control or regulate emotional responses when anticipating rewarding meals or treats.
WeightControl.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response: These findings underscore that some individual’s brains can be fundamentally different in regions that increase the risk for obesity. Conditions like disordered eating and obesity are a lot more complicated than simply managing self-control and eating healthier. What these individuals need is not more willpower, but the therapeutic equivalent of an electrician that can make right these connections inside their brain.
Disclosures: This research was funded by the Foundation for OCD Research, the National Institute of Health (R01 MH124760, K23 MH106794, R01 NS095985), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (#40306) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (#41916).
Citation:
Barbosa, D.A.N., Gattas, S., Salgado, J.S. et al. An orexigenic subnetwork within the human hippocampus. Nature (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06459-w
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06459-w#citeas
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Last Updated on September 3, 2023 by weightcontrol