"Anti-obesity drugs" normalises brain in obesity

Anti-obesity drug improves associative learning in people with obesity

22-Aug-2023 - Obesity leads to altered energy metabolism and reduced insulin sensitivity of cells. The so-called "anti-obesity drugs" are increasingly used to treat obesity and have caused tremendous interest, especially in the USA. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, ...

Hungry? Brain tells liver to start recycling

Brain releases hormone after short fasting that boosts autophagy

20-Apr-2023 - Fasting triggers autophagy in our body. The body switches on the waste disposal system in the cells and gains new energy. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have now shown in mice that the brain plays a decisive role in this process. Even after a short ...

Dieting: brain amplifies signal of hunger synapses

Possible target for drugs to combat the yo-yo effect

28-Mar-2023 - Many people who have dieted are familiar with the yo-yo effect: after the diet, the kilos are quickly put back on. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and Harvard Medical School have now shown in mice that communication in the brain changes during a diet: The nerve ...

Sweets change our brain

Why we can't keep our hands off chocolate bars and co.

24-Mar-2023 - Chocolate bars, crisps and fries - why can't we just ignore them in the supermarket? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, in collaboration with Yale University, have now shown that foods with a high fat and sugar content change our brain: If we regularly eat ...

Uridine makes you hungry

Study on volunteers finds new regulator of food intake

19-Jan-2023 - Uridine is not only a central building block of RNA, but can also increase the feeling of hunger when ingested, as researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research and the University Hospital of Cologne have now shown. In the long term, uridine could be a potential target for ...

Gut to brain: nerve cells detect what we eat

Nerve cells of the vagus nerve fulfil opposing tasks: Discovery could play an important role in the development of new therapeutic strategies against obesity and diabetes

04-Jun-2021 - The gut and the brain communicate with each other in order to adapt satiety and blood sugar levels during food consumption. The vagus nerve is an important communicator between these two organs. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne, the Cluster of ...

Does obesity start in the brain?

Specialised nerve cells increase the appetite for high-fat foods

23-Apr-2020 - High-calorie, energy-dense foods are constantly available in our modern society. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have discovered that a group of nerve cells in the brains of mice promotes the consumption of high-fat food. If these so-called nociceptin ...

Insulin strengthens the intestinal barrier and protects against colorectal cancer

08-Mar-2019 - Excess weight promotes the development of insulin resistance and the incidence of colon cancer. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolic Research in Cologne identified a new mechanism of the insulin signalling in the intestinal mucosa, which is responsible for maintaining the ...

See how you feel

New method visualizes release of the messenger dopamine in the brain

22-Jan-2019 - All feelings, motivations, and actions originate within our brain. In this process, the communication between brain cells with the help of messengers plays an essential role. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne have now developed a method to visualize when ...

Doped by food

Dopamine release regulates our eating behaviour

09-Jan-2019 - When it comes to our food intake, we are only partially in control. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research in Cologne were able to show that our gastrointestinal tract is in constant contact with the brain and uses reward stimuli to control our desire for food. Dopamine is ...