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Neuroimaging

Obesity impairs brain responses to nutrients

Nature Metabolism volume 5, pages 920–921 (2023)Cite this article

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Post-ingestive signals of nutrient availability can drive food reward and neural responses independently of orosensory signals. van Galen et al. demonstrate that brain responses to these post-ingestive signals are impaired in people with obesity

There have been many recent advancements in our understanding of how nutrients in the gut are signalled to the brain, mainly owing to advancements in neuromonitoring and viral techniques implemented in rodent models. In these rodent models, there is clear evidence for a vagally mediated lipid pathway through a proliferator-activated receptor-α-specific mechanism that signals from the right nodose ganglion to the hindbrain, on to the dopaminergic substantia nigra, and then to the dorsal striatum1. Evidence for a carbohydrate pathway is more complex: some studies have found vagal dependence and others have emphasized the importance of signals from the hepatic portal vein2,3. In both cases, there is robust evidence that these signals reach the brain and are capable of changing behaviour. Accordingly, two major neural targets have received the most attention: the hypothalamus and the mesolimbic dopamine system. Although the mechanisms behind food intake are complex, the integration of homeostatic signals from the hypothalamus and reward and reinforcement signals from the mesolimbic dopamine system is probably a major driver of consumption. The preclinical literature continues to grow, but human studies — and therefore the translational utility of these rodent findings — are scarcer.

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Fig. 1: Macronutrient sensing is altered in people with obesity and not rescued by weight loss.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Roanoke, VA, USA

    Mary Elizabeth Baugh & Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio

  2. Center for Health Behaviors Research, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Roanoke, VA, USA

    Mary Elizabeth Baugh & Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio

  3. Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio

Authors
  1. Mary Elizabeth Baugh
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  2. Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio
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Correspondence to Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio.

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Baugh, M.E., DiFeliceantonio, A.G. Obesity impairs brain responses to nutrients. Nat Metab 5, 920–921 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-023-00822-x

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