2023-10-04 06:14:48
A recent study revealed the reasons why people feel hungry and eat more during cold weather in winter, and what neurons are responsible for prompting humans and mammals in general to eat more food while feeling cold.
Neuroscientists at the Scripps Research Institute explained, according to a study recently published in the journalNature“Mammals burn more energy to keep their bodies warm in cold weather, which causes them to feel hungry.”
What is new in the study is that scientists were able to identify a group of brain cells in mice, which is considered the “key” to this feeling of hunger caused by cold, in a step that may lead to significant results regarding weight loss and metabolism (converting food into energy).
“This is a basic adaptive mechanism in mammals,” the study’s lead researcher, Li Yi, said in a statement, adding that it may be exploited in the future and enhance the benefits of it (in burning fat, for example).
Feel hungry during the night?.. Easy tips to overcome a “dangerous” problem
It has become known that eating at night is a habit that is harmful to health, as it is linked to weight gain as well as the chances of developing diseases such as diabetes and high levels of harmful cholesterol. It also negatively affects work performance and mental health and the occurrence of symptoms such as headaches and stomach pain the next day.
The researchers discovered that the mice that were exposed to a drop in temperature from 73 degrees Fahrenheit to 39 degrees did not start searching for food immediately, but rather it took about 6 hours, which means that the feeling of hunger is not a direct reaction to the cold.
Using advanced techniques, scientists examined brain cells of mice during cold and warm periods, and found that in the first case there was an active part of the brain, the thalamus.
By narrowing the scope of the search further, the researchers discovered a unique group of neurons in the thalamus, called the xiphoid nucleus, which is very active when feeling cold, and is most active before the mice begin the process of searching for food.
When the mice ate a smaller amount of food, the activity of these cells continued, which means that the activity is related to a decrease in the energy that the body consumes in the face of cold, and is not related to the feeling of cold itself.
When the scientists activated these neurons, the mice’s feeling of hunger increased, and vice versa.
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