Should you hit the gym or have more fries? Swiss scientists shed light on the dilemma.
Up to now, the concrete processes in the brain that enabled this choice were largely unknown. But now researchers at ETH Zurich have discovered a decisive factor in the process. They have found that the neurotransmitter orexin and the neurons associated with it are responsible. That may finally explain why some people can resist temptations and stay active.
In their study, the researchers discovered that mice with an impaired orexin system preferred a milkshake over exercise. Conversely, mice with a functional orexin spent more time exercising on a wheel and less time indulgin in the milkshake.
The importance of the findings is further emphasized by Denis Burdakov, a Professor of Neuroscience at ETH Zurich. That's because, while most struggle to keep a steady exercise schedule, some do resist pernicious daily temptations and manage to exercise continuously. Knowledge of the brain's decision-making process in such cases might enable the development of new strategies to encourage exercise.
World Health Organization states that a percentage of 80% of adolescents and 27% of adults do not exercise enough, and obesity is increasing both in children and in the adult population of all ages.
The focus of the experiment was orexin, which is a relatively new chemical messenger in the brain. This is unlike the well-known chemicals, including serotonin and dopamine; knowledge about orexin is still under investigation. They found that mice with a working orexin system preferred to move around rather than drink a strawberry-flavored milkshake loaded with fat and sugar.
The full implications of the findings reach far beyond basic neuroscience. Daria Peleg-Raibstein, a group leader at ETH Zurich, commented that such research could help understand and fight in a manner the global obesity crisis and related metabolic disorders.
Scientists hope to develop further novel strategies to promote exercise and understand better factors limiting physical activity, particularly in individuals prone to inactivity, through the study of how the brain achieves caloric intake balance.
This can be followed by further validation in humans, since the brain mechanisms at work are largely conserved across species. This could then take the form of research in humans with known inherited causes of a lack of orexin or using new, potentially orexin-blocking, drugs. Such studies could offer new means of increasing physical activity and combating obesity to improve public health.
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