The role of peripheral metabolic signals in neural reward mechanisms

你的餐盘上还有最后一口食物。你犹豫了，但尽管感觉饱了，你还是设法吃掉了最后一口。你的盘子干净了，你的饥饿感也得到了满足。没有意识地想着要吃更多的东西，你的眼睛瞥了一眼甜点菜单。对美味食物带来的新奇感官体验的期待让你振作起来，在你意识到这一点之前，你就已经吞下了另一口。美味食物的有益效果不仅可以驱使我们在饥饿和需要补充能量的时候进食，而且在能量充足的时候也可以在饱足的状态下进食。大脑中的哪些机制负责激励我们食用富含脂肪和糖的食物？我们的工作探索了构成食物动机和其他调节体重的行为的神经通路。饮食衍生的脂肪营养素，如多不饱和omega-3脂肪酸，在神经信号和行为过程中发挥着重要作用，包括食物奖励。我们的目标是揭示omega-3脂肪酸缺乏对奖赏、情绪和能量平衡产生有害影响的机制。随着我们面临与营养相关的疾病对健康、社会和经济的影响，阐明调节食物动机的机制仍然是一个重要的目标。

One last morsel of food remains on your dinner plate. You hesitate but in spite of feeling full you manage to eat the last bite. Your plate is clean and your hunger is satisfied. Without a conscious thought of eating anything more your eyes glance over the dessert menu. The anticipation of the novel sensory experience presented by the tasty treats makes you perk-up, and before you know it you are devouring another mouthful. The rewarding effects of palatable foods can drive us to eat not only when we are hungry and need to replenish energy stores but also in states of satiety when energy is replete. Which mechanisms in the brain are responsible for motivating us to consume foods rich in fat and sugar? Our work explores the neural pathways that underlie motivation for food and other behaviours that regulate body weight. Dietary-derived lipid nutrients such as polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids play a signifcant role in neural signaling and behavioral processes including food reward. Our goal is to uncover the mechanisms by which omega-3 fatty acid deficiency on has deleterious effects on reward, emotions and energy balance. As we are confronted with the health, social and economic consequences of nutritionally-related illnesses, elucidating the mechanisms that regulate motivation for food remains an important goal.