Neural circuit discovered in mice that overides eating behavior

[deltasigma]

Just another example of how much we have left to learn.

By hijacking connections between neurons deep within the brain, scientists forced full mice to keep eating and hungry mice to shun food. By identifying precise groups of cells that cause eating and others that curb it, the results begin to clarify the intricate web of checks and balances in the brain that control feeding.

“This is a really important missing piece of the puzzle,” says neuroscientist Seth Blackshaw of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “These are cell types that weren’t even predicted to exist.” A deeper understanding of how the brain orchestrates eating behavior could lead to better treatments for disorders such as anorexia and obesity, he says. . . .
. . . .
When a laser activated these BNST neurons, the mice became ravenous, voraciously eating their food, the researchers report in the Sept. 27 Science. “As soon as you turn it on, they start eating and they don’t stop until you turn it off,” Stuber says. The opposite behavior happened when a laser silenced BNST neurons’ messages to the lateral hypothalamus: The mice would not eat, even when hungry.

Emphasis not in original

[zoid]

On one hand this could be great. Imagine if we could figure out which cell structure caused people to do things like shoot heroin and could just turn it off as a treatment.
The downside is the potential for it to be abused. Lots of scary Big Brother scenarios that were once science fiction fantasy seem just bit more feasible if this kind of research really proves effective.
But hey, I’m paranoid by nature

[deltasigma]

BTW, on an unrelated note, I’m sending a link for this cool app you should try . . . (don’t mind the electrodes)