"In mice, a small group of neurons responds specifically to sweet tastes. They project into a hidden appetite hub, a part of the brain that links motivation and emotion to behavior. When these neurons fire, sugar becomes not just pleasant but irresistible. Switch them off, and even sugar loses its pull. This is the first clear evidence of how taste signals acquire the motivational force that drives consumption."
"This region does not act as a simple on-off switch. Instead, it behaves more like a dial, turning the intensity of consumption up or down according to the body's needs. In hungry mice, the number of licks for a sweet stimulus triples compared with animals that have already eaten. This amplification does not occur at the level of the taste receptor cells or even in the neurons that assign sweetness a positive value."
A small group of neurons responds specifically to sweet tastes and projects into an appetite hub that links motivation and emotion to behavior. Activation of these neurons makes sugar irresistible, while silencing them removes sugar's pull. The appetite hub integrates external cues such as sugar with internal states like hunger or low salt, adjusting consumption intensity. In hungry mice, licking for a sweet stimulus triples compared with sated animals, indicating amplification occurs downstream of taste receptor cells and value-assigning neurons. Manipulating this hub can either increase eating or abolish consumption.
Read at Psychology Today
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