#brain pics

[wobsalot]

Time travel is real.

Most nights I can clip

forward a few hours,

If I'm lucky.

Sometimes

The still air mixes

In with the circuitry

And I go all the way back.

[researchchla]

Deep within the brain’s hypothalamus, there is a collection of neurons that serve as the central regulators of appetite, metabolism and fat storage. Called the arcuate nucleus, these neurons respond to circulating hunger and satiety signals in blood, increasing or decreasing our food intake accordingly.

It’s no wonder then, that the arcuate nucleus is one of the main focus areas when looking into the neurological influences of obesity. In a recent study, researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) found that the presence of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin—which initiates our urge to eat—in early infancy can cause changes to the arcuate nucleus that may link to an increased risk of obesity later in life.

Read more about how ghrelin levels affect the brain and influence obesity risk

Image Caption: Immunofluorescent staining of neuronal culture derived from the arcuate nucleus

Image Credit: Richard Simerly, PhD, director of the Developmental Neuroscience Program and deputy director of The Saban Research Institute of CHLA