Osaka: High-calorie foods--high in fat, oil, and sugar--may taste delicious, but they frequently lead to overeating, which leads to obesity and other serious health concerns. But what causes the brain to be aroused and cause overeating?
Recently, it has become clear that a gene called CREB-Regulated Transcription Coactivator 1 (CRTC1) is associated with obesity in humans. When CRTC1 is deleted in mice, they become obese, indicating that functioning CRTC1 suppresses obesity. However, since CRTC1 is expressed in all neurons in the brain, the specific neurons responsible for suppressing obesity and the mechanism present in those neurons remained unknown.
