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No extra starvation after cooking? A newly recognized community of nerve cells is accountable, a analysis group on the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Analysis has found in mice.
They found a direct connection from the nostril to a gaggle of nerve cells within the mind which are activated by the odor of meals and, when activated, set off a sense of fullness. This was not the case in overweight mice. This discovery means that treating weight problems would possibly require totally different recommendation about smelling meals earlier than a meal based mostly on an individual’s weight.
For his or her examine revealed in Nature Metabolism, the researchers used mind scans to analyze which areas of the mice’s brains reply to meals odors, and have been capable of establish a brand new group of nerve cells within the medial septum of the mind. These nerve cells reply to meals in two steps: when the mouse smells meals, the nerve cells hearth and create a sensation of fullness.
This occurs inside just a few seconds as a result of the nerve cells are instantly linked to the olfactory bulb. The nerve cells react to totally different meals smells, however to not different smells. When the mice began to eat, the nerve cells have been inhibited. Total, the mice ate much less when these nerve cells are lively earlier than consuming.
“We think this mechanism helps mice in the wild protect themselves from predators. By eating for shorter periods, they reduce their chances of being caught,” explains Janice Bulk, the primary writer of the examine.
Extra weight disturbs notion
In overweight mice, the identical group of nerve cells was not activated when the mice may odor meals. The mice didn’t really feel fuller and didn’t eat much less total. The authors level out that it’s already identified that weight problems disrupts the olfactory system, together with neuronal exercise within the olfactory bulb. The newly recognized group of nerve cells may be affected by weight problems.
And in people?
The human mind incorporates the identical group of nerve cells because the mouse, however it isn’t but identified whether or not in addition they reply to meals odors. Research by different analysis teams have proven that smelling some particular odors earlier than a meal can cut back individuals’s urge for food. In distinction, different research have proven that obese individuals eat considerably extra in the identical state of affairs.
“Our findings highlight how crucial it is to consider the sense of smell in appetite regulation and in the development of obesity. Our study shows how much our daily lives’ eating habits are influenced by the smell of food,” says Sophie Steculorum, the top of the examine and analysis group chief on the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Analysis.
“Since we discovered that the pathway only reduces appetite in lean mice, but not in obese mice, our study opens up a new way to help prevent overeating in obesity.”
Extra data:
A food-sensitive olfactory circuit drives anticipatory satiety, Nature Metabolism (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s42255-025-01301-1
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Max Planck Society
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Sniffing out starvation: A nose-to-brain connection linked to urge for food (2025, June 11)
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