APPETITE IN THE BRAIN

摘要

Appetite is defined as 'a natural desire to satisfy a bodily need, especially for food'. Appetite sensations are formed in the brain, through the integration of a multitude of neural and hormonal signals involved in the regulation of food intake. Measuring appetite objectively is inherently hard due to the complexity of its underlying determinants and accordingly there are multiple operationalizations of appetite. First, different terms and concepts used for describing and investigating appetitive sensations will be introduced. Second, the regulation of food intake will be addressed with a focus on what drives food intake and body weight regulation. Finally, functional neuroimaging work on the neural correlates of appetite in the brain will be discussed.