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A1CR
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Joined: 18 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:20 am Post subject: Gut Hormone Boosts Brain Power |
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The hunger hormone, ghrelin, can help brain processes....
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A hormone produced by the stomach can boost the number of connections between neurons in a part of the brain involved in forming new memories, providing new evidence for the close connection between the brain and the gut.
The recently discovered hormone, ghrelin, is released into the bloodstream by the stomach when it is empty and travels to the brain, where it stimulates appetite. But the hormone's function in other parts of the brain has been unknown.
In new experiments, Tamas Horvath of Yale Medical School and colleagues found that mice genetically engineered to lack the gene necessary to produce ghrelin have 25 percent fewer connections in a part of the brain known as the hippocampus, which is involved in forming new memories.
When normal mice are injected with extra ghrelin, they form extra connections in that part of the brain. Moreover, tests show that the animals have enhanced ability to learn and remember, the researchers reported in a paper published online yesterday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
More research is needed to explore why the hormone has that effect, the researchers said. The findings suggest the hormone might be useful for treating learning and memory problems, such as those caused by aging and brain ailments such as Alzheimer's disease, they said. |
See this link for Washington Post article on this discovery:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/19/AR2006021901108_2.html
Below is the technical info supporting this research.
Ghrelin controls hippocampal spine synapse density and memory performance
Sabrina Diano, Susan A Farr, Stephen C Benoit, Ewan C McNay, Ivaldo da
Silva, Balazs Horvath, F Spencer Gaskin, Naoko Nonaka, Laura B Jaeger,
William A Banks, John E Morley, Shirly Pinto, Robert S Sherwin, Lin Xu,
Kelvin A Yamada, Mark W Sleeman, Matthias H Tsch? Tamas L Horvath
Nature Neurosci 19 February 2006; | doi:10.1038/nn1656
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The gut hormone and neuropeptide ghrelin affects energy balance and growth
hormone release through hypothalamic action that involves synaptic
plasticity in the melanocortin system. Ghrelin binding is also present in
other brain areas, including the telencephalon, where its function remains
elusive. Here we report that circulating ghrelin enters the hippocampus and
binds to neurons of the hippocampal formation, where it promotes dendritic
spine synapse formation and generation of long-term potentiation. These
ghrelin-induced synaptic changes are paralleled by enhanced spatial learning
and memory. Targeted disruption of the gene that encodes ghrelin resulted in
decreased numbers of spine synapses in the CA1 region and impaired
performance of mice in behavioral memory testing, both of which were rapidly
reversed by ghrelin administration. Our observations reveal an endogenous
function of ghrelin that links metabolic control with higher brain functions
and suggest novel therapeutic strategies to enhance learning and memory
processes.
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... Ghrelin- or GHS-R null mutant animals show no obvious metabolic
phenotype11, 34 while on a standard diet, though it was recently reported
that they show resistance to diet-induced obesity11, 34. Thus, there is
reason to believe that ghrelin (unlike leptin) may not be a critical
regulator of homeostatic energy balance. In fact, one of the first reported
phenotypes of ghrelin knockout animals was our observation of a significant
impairment of these animals in the NOR test. This suggests that ghrelin may
be more important for the regulation of higher brain functions that are
dependent upon metabolic status rather than for energy metabolism per se.
This may not be all that surprising given that a great number of cognitive
tests on laboratory rodents and nonhuman primates are carried out after food
deprivation or fasting, metabolic states that are paralleled by elevated
levels of circulating ghrelin. |
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A1CR
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Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:23 am Post subject: re: Gut Hormone Boosts Brain Power |
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From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense that if you're hungry (or in "famine mode") you're gonna need extra brain power to seek out food (calories).
-Khurram |
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