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posted by mrpg on Monday November 22 2021, @01:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the that's-enough dept.

In the brain’s cerebellum, a new target for suppressing hunger:

People with Prader Willi syndrome, a genetic disorder, have an insatiable appetite. They never feel full, even after a hearty meal. The result can be life-threatening overeating and obesity.

According to a new study, their constant hunger results in part to disordered signaling in the brain’s cerebellum, a region of the brain also responsible for motor control and learning. An international research team spanning 12 institutions, led by J. Nicholas Betley, an assistant professor of biology in Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences, and Albert I. Chen, an associate professor at the Scintillion Institute, in San Diego, used clues from Prader Willi patients to guide investigations in mice that uncovered a subset of cerebellar neurons that signals satiation after eating.

When the researchers activated these neurons, the magnitude of the effect "was enormous," accordingly to Betley. The animals ate just as often as typical mice, but each of their meals was 50-75% smaller.

[...] "It's amazing that you can still find areas of the brain that are important for basic survival behaviors that we had never before implicated," Betley says. "And these brain regions are important in robust ways."

Journal Reference:
Aloysius Y. T. Low, Nitsan Goldstein, Jessica R. Gaunt, et al. Reverse-translational identification of a cerebellar satiation network, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04143-5)


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  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday November 22 2021, @04:59PM (4 children)

    by acid andy (1683) on Monday November 22 2021, @04:59PM (#1198603) Homepage Journal

    But then, I realize that video games must also be dealt with. (but those do not appeal to me)

    This could be an interesting topic of conversation, albeit offtopic. Why don't they appeal to you? Is it something you can reason about or is it just a simple emotional response? Are there any video games that you play now? Were there in the past, and how were they for you?

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Monday November 22 2021, @05:35PM (3 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 22 2021, @05:35PM (#1198610) Journal

    Offtopic warning. Answer to question. Stop here unless you want to read further.

    About 30 years ago I played logic games. Before that in the 1980s, I played a few of the "text adventure" type of games. The last and most favorite was Infocom's Suspended on an Apple II in mid 1980s.

    I've had a bit of fun with a few of the early modern console games. Mario comes to mind. But I quickly lost interest.

    I never had any interest in the modern FPS type games. And really in the modern computer games in general. It's not that I'm not impressed with the amazing technology. It's just that the games don't really appeal to me.

    I think the main reason, over my entire lifetime, is that I found more interesting things. After ending Infocom's Suspended in mid 1980's, I started learning Lisp. Then I got XLisp from CompuServe. Later Macintosh Common Lisp for $495 on floppy disks. Updates were free or cheap. I bought many Lisp and AI related books. Subscribed to AI Magazine. Didn't put down Lisp or symbolic computing for about six years.

    I mostly have entertained myself with computer languages, algorithms, data structures, etc. And books on those. Also an interest in compiler design and implementation. Later interest in Computer Algebra Systems, which I am still fascinated with today.

    The only emotional reaction I have to video games is that it seems like young people waste an astonishing amount of time and money on them. But back in the day people entertained themselves in front of the TV. So I can't judge video games as being worse. Then there is social media.

    I don't know if that really answers your question.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 22 2021, @07:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 22 2021, @07:09PM (#1198634)

      Yep. First they convince you that there is no harm in a few quick hits of Minesweeper or Freecell. They give it to you free.

      Soon you've moved to the harder stuff - Spider and Sudoku.

      Finally one day you find yourself under a jacked-up vehicle, boosting everybody else's catalytic converters, just so you can afford to buy a rig capable of running the latest, greatest 3-D video game at 120 frames/second.

      --
      "I can't get no - satisfaction" - Rolling Stones

    • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday November 22 2021, @09:49PM (1 child)

      by acid andy (1683) on Monday November 22 2021, @09:49PM (#1198695) Homepage Journal

      I don't know if that really answers your question.

      I think so. I wasn't really looking for any particular kind of answer. I just found it an interesting talking point.

      I played logic games. [...] I mostly have entertained myself with computer languages

      Yes you may agree that programming is one of the best, most fun, logic games.

      Personally, I do enjoy the eye candy of modern games but I must admit I do start to feel that many games are too much about consuming rather than creating. I like to create interesting, meaningful stuff.

      One area I think some of the games do excel though, even over something like programming, is satisfying feelings of competitiveness. For example, I particularly enjoy realistic driving games. The intense concentration involved is strangely rewarding as well.

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      If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday November 22 2021, @10:48PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday November 22 2021, @10:48PM (#1198726) Journal

        For example, I particularly enjoy realistic driving games.

        A former coworker was into that. He had quite a rig hooked up to his PC. Three monitors. A drivers seat. Steering wheel. Various displays, lights, buttons and controls operated by microcontrollers -- and connected in to the game! These things gave him an edge.

        The whole rig was one giant piece made of wood, with place for the PC and everything all wired up.

        He would bring it into the office on some Saturdays when there was some kind of big competition. Our small office internet is vastly superior to any residential internet I've ever seen ever. It is fiber to a "drain" a couple states away, connected to the corporate backbone.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.