Hunger and thirst begin in the head and we have found neurons responsible for it

Hunger and thirst are basic sensations for our annoying subsistence that are. Our body needs to remind us that it needs water and nutrients regularly and evolution has laid the foundations for a more complex mechanism than we might think in principle.

So complex, that we are still studying it.

Interpret the signal. A new study has found New clues On the way in which our brain interprets the existence of a need to feed and hydrate, and how this need into action becomes. The team was even able to make drinks that were avoided by mice became desired by these thanks to the stimulation of certain neurons.

Generalist and specialized. The team managed to identify groups of nerve cells from the tonsil involved in the sensations of hunger and thirst, some of them specialized in one of the functions, others more versatile. This led to the discovery of the first group of “thirst neurons” in the tonsil.

“When we activated these neurons, the mice drank more, and when we suppressed their activity, the mice drank less,” indicated in a press release Federica Fermani, who led the study. “We also identified another group of neurons in the same region of the tonsil that generated thirst but also played a role in regulating hunger.”

Optogenetics The team resorted to various tools Genetic for the study of the activity, including a so -called optogenetic. This technique allows to activate specific neurons using light -sensitive proteins and a laser capable of accurately reaching the cell.

The team He combined this tool With silenced techniques that allowed to “turn off” neurons to study how their absence affects the animal’s behavior. They also resorted to methods focused on the monitoring of individual neurons in different brain regions to, through their connections with other cells, map the functioning of neuronal networks.

The details of the methodology and the results of the study were published In an article In the magazine Nature Communications.

And in humans? As is logical, what we find in mice does not always have its reflection in humans. Despite this, the study responsible for the study indicates that the structure of the amygdala is similar in mice and humans. This implies that the recent findings could help us in understanding how emotions and motivations can influence our eating habits, both in regard to food and in relation to the drink, they explain.

Beyond subsistence. The team studied how the work of these neurons shapes our tastes and preferences. Eating and drinking is not only a matter of subsistence but also awakens taste, although this sometimes depends on preferences that we do not fully understand.

In its analysis, the team analyzed this connection by offering mice a less desires but stimulating neurons in the central region of its tonsil. They observed that this neuronal stimulation changed the preferences of the animal, which increased its predilection for a beaten before disdained.

As explained by those responsible for the study, the work of these neurons can also facilitate the work of understanding why some people feed on less or more. Knowing the work of these neurons could help us avoid health problems derived from these behaviors associated with them.

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Image | Tukhfatullina Food Photography/Stylist / Lakshmiraman Oza