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November 01, 2019Why does one candy lead to another? Science has discovered it. Everything depends on a brain circuit that appears to be associated with disorders ranging from overeating to gambling, from drug abuse to Parkinson's disease. To say it is a study published in Nature Communications and coordinated by the University of Southern California.Mch, the hormone that induces the synthesis of melanin, is reported by brain cells in a portion of the hypothalamus. The research indicated that the Mch is linked to the appetite for food or drugs, but until now scientists had not fully understood how it came to influence impulse control. Thanks to a study, conducted on mice, it was discovered how impulsiveness is a separate function from hunger.
In one experiment, the guinea pigs had to press a lever to receive a gift that corresponded to a food with fats and carbohydrates. The release of the gift was planned, so the mice had to wait 20 seconds to press the lever again and receive another one. The mouse became impatient and sometimes hit the lever before the time had passed, forcing the watch to reset and having to wait for another chance again.
On the basis of some analyzes carried out on the brains of guinea pigs, scholars have noticed how the neurons of the lateral hypothalamus signal Mch to other neurons in the ventral hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with emotions, memory and inhibitory control . This work, the researchers explain, could lead to the development of more targeted treatments for psychiatric disorders in which impulsiveness is a fundamental problem.