hunger

Hunger Motivation: Understanding why we eat, hunger is something that makes us do things (motivator) and is a drive state

Hunger is generally triggered by low glucose levels in the blood, and behaviors resulting from hunger aim to restore homeostasis regarding those glucose levels

  • Insulin –secreted by pancreas,  regulates blood sugar level

  • Leptin – secreted by fat cells, when abundant causes the brain to inc. metabolism and dec. hunger. 

  • Orexin – hunger-triggering  hormone from hypothalamus

  • Ghrelin – secreted from empty stomach, I’m empty” hormone from stomach

  • Obestatin – secreted from the digestive tract, “I’m full” hormone from stomach.

  • PYY – “I’m not hungry” hormone from intestines.

Set point: the point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set.  When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

Lateral hypothalamus (LH): the “on” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel hungry and they will become little (LH).

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH): the “off” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel full and they will become very huge (VMH)

Basal metabolic rate: the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure.

Anorexia nervosa: an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.

Bulimia nervosa: an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise.

Binge-eating disorder: significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.

Body Mass Index (BMI): the percentage of a person’s body fat.

Obesity: a disorder characterized by being excessively overweight, usually considered to have a BMI of over 30%.

Sexual Motivation: The normal human interest in sexual objects and activities

Sexual response cycle: the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson – excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.