20 Mar 2024 --- UCLA psychologists have pinpointed “overactive food-seeking neurons” as the potential cause behind post-meal snack cravings rather than an overactive appetite. While the study was performed in mice, the researchers suggest its implications may offer response tactics for human eating disorders. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, discovered a circuit in mice brains that makes them crave food and seek it out, even when they are not hungry. When stimulated, this cluster of cells propels mice to “forage vigorously” and prefer fatty and pleasurable foods like chocolate over healthier foods like carrots.
