Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need
When relatively sated, people (and rodents) are still easily tempted to consume calorie-dense foods, particularly those containing fat and sugar. Consumption of such foods while calorically replete likely contributes to obesity. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) opioid system has long been viewed as a cri...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2018-03-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/34955 |
| _version_ | 1797997541355159552 |
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| author | Kevin Caref Saleem M Nicola |
| author_facet | Kevin Caref Saleem M Nicola |
| author_sort | Kevin Caref |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When relatively sated, people (and rodents) are still easily tempted to consume calorie-dense foods, particularly those containing fat and sugar. Consumption of such foods while calorically replete likely contributes to obesity. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) opioid system has long been viewed as a critical substrate for this behavior, mainly via contributions to the neural control of consumption and palatability. Here, we test the hypothesis that endogenous NAc opioids also promote appetitive approach to calorie-dense food in states of relatively high satiety. We simultaneously recorded NAc neuronal firing and infused a µ-opioid receptor antagonist into the NAc while rats performed a cued approach task in which appetitive and consummatory phases were well separated. The results reveal elements of a neural mechanism by which NAc opioids promote approach to high-fat food despite the lack of caloric need, demonstrating a potential means by which the brain is biased towards overconsumption of palatable food. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:33:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-24e01896fe5e40a1814b3f6da7963a63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T10:33:23Z |
| publishDate | 2018-03-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-24e01896fe5e40a1814b3f6da7963a632022-12-22T04:29:21ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2018-03-01710.7554/eLife.34955Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric needKevin Caref0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6424-4272Saleem M Nicola1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9582-6312Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United StatesDepartment of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, United StatesWhen relatively sated, people (and rodents) are still easily tempted to consume calorie-dense foods, particularly those containing fat and sugar. Consumption of such foods while calorically replete likely contributes to obesity. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) opioid system has long been viewed as a critical substrate for this behavior, mainly via contributions to the neural control of consumption and palatability. Here, we test the hypothesis that endogenous NAc opioids also promote appetitive approach to calorie-dense food in states of relatively high satiety. We simultaneously recorded NAc neuronal firing and infused a µ-opioid receptor antagonist into the NAc while rats performed a cued approach task in which appetitive and consummatory phases were well separated. The results reveal elements of a neural mechanism by which NAc opioids promote approach to high-fat food despite the lack of caloric need, demonstrating a potential means by which the brain is biased towards overconsumption of palatable food.https://elifesciences.org/articles/34955obesityrewardmotivationfood intake regulation |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Caref Saleem M Nicola Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need eLife obesity reward motivation food intake regulation |
| title | Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| title_full | Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| title_fullStr | Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| title_full_unstemmed | Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| title_short | Endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high-fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| title_sort | endogenous opioids in the nucleus accumbens promote approach to high fat food in the absence of caloric need |
| topic | obesity reward motivation food intake regulation |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/34955 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kevincaref endogenousopioidsinthenucleusaccumbenspromoteapproachtohighfatfoodintheabsenceofcaloricneed AT saleemmnicola endogenousopioidsinthenucleusaccumbenspromoteapproachtohighfatfoodintheabsenceofcaloricneed |