Palatable Food, Reward, and Stress

美味的食物、奖励和压力

• 批准号: 7302526
• 负责人: Yvonne Michelle Ulrich-Lai
• 金额: $ 11.76万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-20 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7302526
• 关键词: Address; Adrenal Glands; Amygdaloid structure; Area; Artificial Sweeteners; Attenuated; Behavior; Brain; Brain region; Calories; Daily; Development; Dopamine; Eating; Environment; Excitotoxic lesion; Fatty acid glycerol esters; Figs - dietary; Food; Food Energy; Funding; Gene Expression; Goals; Hypothalamic structure; Intake; Literature; Medial; Mediating; Modeling; Molecular; Motivation; Neurons; Obesity; Opioid; Pathway interactions; Pituitary Gland; Prefrontal Cortex; Prevention strategy; Public Health; Rattus; Recording of previous events; Regulation; Research; Research Project Grants; Rewards; Saccharin; Solid; Stress; Sucrose; Testing; Training; Water; Weight Gain; Work; attenuation; biological adaptation to stress; career; drug of abuse; energy balance; hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; insight; neuromechanism; neurotransmission; obesity treatment; prevent; programs; response; reward circuitry; success; sugar

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The literature clearly demonstrates that food intake and energy balance are profoundly influenced by stress, and vice versa. However, the neural mechanisms underlying these effects are largely unknown. My career goal is to establish an independent academic research program focused on pursuing the mechanisms by which stress and food/energy balance interact. To begin addressing these interactions, I have developed a model of limited palatable food intake in which rats with free access to food and water are given additional twice daily access to a small amount of sucrose versus water. In this model, sucrose rats show attenuated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis responses to stress and diminished stress-induced neuronal activation in brain reward regions. Moreover, the calories and other post-ingestive consequences of sucrose are neither sufficient nor necessary for the HPA dampening. I hypothesize that activation of brain reward pathways by the highly-palatable sucrose mediates the reduced stress responsiveness. The present proposal tests this hypothesis by using (1) molecular approaches to determine whether a history of limited sucrose intake alters brain reward pathways similar to other types of reward, (2) pharmacological activation of brain reward pathways to determine whether their activation is sufficient for HPA dampening, and (3) excitotoxic lesions of principal brain reward regions to determine whether activity in these regions is necessary for sucrose-mediated HPA dampening. Success in this area of inquiry necessitates a solid background in stress, energy balance, and reward research. My background in stress regulation is strong, and additional expertise in the areas of energy balance and reward, as provided by the proposed research project, coursework, training environment, and career development activities, would greatly enhance my ability to obtain independent funding and pursue an independent research career at the juncture of these highly-interconnected fields. Lastly, the proposed work has important implications for public health. When under stress, many people increase their intake of highly palatable (e.g. tasty high-sugar or high-fat) foods, presumably to help calm or comfort themselves. However, this behavior can increase body weight and contribute to the development of obesity. This project seeks to understand how palatable foods act to decrease the response to stress, thereby providing insight into the motivation to consume these foods and potentially offering new strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity.

描述（由申请人提供）： 文献清楚地表明，食物的摄入量和能量平衡受到压力的深刻影响，反之亦然。但是，这些作用的神经机制在很大程度上尚不清楚。我的职业目标是建立一个独立的学术研究计划，旨在追求压力和食物/能量平衡相互作用的机制。为了开始解决这些相互作用，我开发了一种有限的可口食品摄入量的模型，在该模型中，免费获得食物和水的大鼠每天提供两次获得少量的蔗糖与水的额外使用。在该模型中，蔗糖大鼠显示出对压力的下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（HPA）轴对压力的反应，并减少了脑奖励区域的压力诱导的神经元激活。此外，对于HPA抑制作用，蔗糖的卡路里和其他产后后果既不足够也不足够。我假设高度可靠的蔗糖激活大脑奖励途径会介导降低的压力反应能力。 The present proposal tests this hypothesis by using (1) molecular approaches to determine whether a history of limited sucrose intake alters brain reward pathways similar to other types of reward, (2) pharmacological activation of brain reward pathways to determine whether their activation is sufficient for HPA dampening, and (3) excitotoxic lesions of principal brain reward regions to determine whether activity in these regions is necessary for sucrose-mediated HPA dampening.在这一探究领域的成功必须在压力，能量平衡和奖励研究方面具有扎实的背景。我的压力调节背景很强，在拟议的研究项目，课程工作，培训环境和职业发展活动中提供的能源平衡和奖励领域的额外专业知识将极大地增强我获得独立资金并从事这些高度交往的领域的独立研究职业的能力。最后，拟议的工作对公共卫生具有重要意义。当受到压力时，许多人会增加对高度可口的（例如美味的高糖或高脂）食物的摄入量，大概是为了帮助自己平静或安慰自己。但是，这种行为可以增加体重，并有助于肥胖的发展。该项目旨在了解可口的食物如何采取行动来减少对压力的反应，从而洞悉消费这些食物的动机，并可能为预防和治疗肥胖提供新的策略。