The Brain's Reward Circuitry and Hunger Regulation

Flashcards about the brain's reward circuitry and hunger regulation.

Pleasurable

Refers to immediate positive emotions.

Rewarding

Represents more complex responses that may involve more long-term learning and anticipation in addition to positive emotions.

Reticular Formation

Brain area involved in sleep/wake cycles and arousal functions.

Mesolimbic Dopaminergic Pathway

Brain pathway implicated in reward, involving the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Septal Nuclei

Limbic structure involved in brain reward.

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter that may play a role in shifting our arousal and motivation toward pleasurable aspects of a stimulus.

Liking

A sensory-stimulating emotional experience, closely associated with pleasure.

Wanting

Closely related to motivation and drive; it is emotional experience that builds as we anticipates possible pleasurable outcomes.

Learning

Building association between events or responses which lead to pleasurable outcomes to expand the reward repertoire.

Anorexia Nervosa

Malfunction of the hunger regulation system.

Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH)

When lesioned bilaterally, it can lead to overeating (hyperphagia) and obesity.

Lateral Hypothalamus (LH)

When lesioned bilaterally, it can result in reduced eating and decreased body weight.

Sensory-Specific Satiety

Explains why you cannot eat another bite of your main dinner entrée but seem to have plenty of room for dessert!

Insulin

A hormone that facilitates the storage of energy in body fat and liver tissue and enhances satiety.

Arcuate Nucleus

An area of the hypothalamus, with receptors activated by insulin.

Insulin Resistance

Diets high in fat and sugar have been shown to decrease insulin’s effectiveness at lowering blood glucose levels.

Leptin

A hormone produced in fatty tissue, is a critical hunger regulatory signal conveying metabolic information from the body to the hypothalamus.

Ghrelin

A chemical secreted by endocrine cells in the stomach; it increases during fasting and decreases following a meal; thus, it is known as a meal initiator.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY)

A neuropeptide neurotransmitter that causes increased food intake.

Agouti-Related Peptide (AgRP)

A neurochemical that works in conjunction with NPY neurons to maintain energy regulation by increasing appetite and decreasing energy expenditure when necessary.

Paraventricular Nucleus

An area of the hypothalamus long thought to be involved with the inhibition of appetite.

Cross-Sensitization

Rats that exposed to sugar and given daily amphetamine injections exhibited typical drug-induced hyperactivity after tasting 10% sugar solution one week later.

Social Facilitation of Eating

Most people eat more when with others.

Adipsia

An apparent absence of thirst.

Osmoreceptors

Cells that are sensitive to cellular dehydration, in the anterior wall of the third ventricle of the brain.

Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)

A key structure in the brain's reward circuitry; source of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens.

Nucleus Accumbens

A region in the basal forebrain that is a critical substrate for the experience of reward and motivation; receives dopamine inputs from the VTA.

Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC)

A prefrontal cortex region involved in decision-making and evaluating the reinforcing properties of stimuli.

Homeostatic Eating

Eating driven by the need to maintain energy balance.

Non-Homeostatic Eating

Eating driven by pleasure rather than energy requirements.

Restrained Eating

Chronic self-regulation of food intake to control body weight influenced by cognitive factors.

Anorexia Nervosa (AN)

Eating disorder characterized by restriction of energy intake relative to requirements, leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health.

Bulimia Nervosa (BN)

Eating disorder characterized by a cycle of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors, such as vomiting; individual is at a normal weight or overweight.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a sense of loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards; and not regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g., purging) to counter the binge eating.

Osmotic Thirst

Occurs when intracellular fluid volume decreases; it is detected by osmoreceptors.

Hypovolemic Thirst

Occurs when blood volume decreases; it is detected by baroreceptors.

Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH)

A hormone released by the posterior pituitary gland that constricts blood vessels and decreases the amount of water excreted by the kidneys;

Homeostasis

The process of maintaining relatively stable internal conditions.

Reward Circuitry

Brain circuitry involved in experiencing pleasure, reward, and motivation, including the VTA, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex.