Crave chocolate? Researchers identify neurons guilty

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AFP

Friday, 19 January 2018 06:48

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Friday, 19 January 2018 06:48

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Tokyo | Why did it on the chocolate and other sweets when stressed? A team of japanese researchers have identified the neurons responsible for, offering hope to advance the research for people suffering from overweight.

Scientists from the national Institute of physiological sciences, located in Aichi prefecture, have discovered that when were activated in mice of neurons known to respond to stress, carbohydrate craving was multiplied.

It turned out that the rodents in question ate more than three times the rations of sweet that in normal conditions, while reducing by half the fat ingested.

This study, to be published in the online edition of the american journal Cell Reports, is the first to demonstrate the role of the brain in the preferences for carbohydrate or fat, ” says Yasuhiko Minokoshi, who led the research.

“A lot of people who eat too many sweets when they are stressed tend to think that it is their fault, because they can’t control their impulses”, so that it would be in fact a case of neurons, he told AFP.

The researcher, however, wanted to careful, stressing that it would take time before jumping to concrete applications.

A simple deletion of the neurons in question might have side effects, he warned. On the other hand, ” if we can find a particular molecule in neurons and in the target to remove a part of its activities, this could help reduce the excessive consumption of carbohydrates “.

Conversely, an activation of this molecule would be useful for patients who consume too much fat.