Can neuroimaging explain the underlying mechanisms of overeating when comparing obese to lean subjects
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Obesity is a condition caused by overeating, to a state\nwere a person’s weight is not proportional to his or her\nlength anymore. The concept of overeating is not completely\nsolved. Many researchers have tried to unravel the underlying\nmechanism that causes overeating using Positron Emission\nTomography (PET) or functional Magnetic Resonance\nImaging (fMRI).\nDifferent research groups have used neuroimaging as a\ntool to come up with a piece of the story and they tend to\nagree that their answer is only part of the solution. Abnormal\nactivation of brain areas of an obese person in response\nto eating is often in regions that are connected to\nemotion, control of behavior and reward. Important areas\nare the prefrontal cortex, dorsal insula, hippocampus, limbic/\nparalimbic areas, amygdala and a reduced amount of\ndopamine D2 receptors in the striatum. The role of hormones\nis not taken into account in this paper, but is also\nimportant for understanding overeating.\nThe real mechanism is complex and more studies have to\nbe done. Neuroimaging can be used to do further research.
Author: I.N. Kanters
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W90631004